The End of the Road
by Yossarian
Summary: Several kids become the newest genetic experiment for Team Rocket and are hunted by a special retrieval team. **Chapter Twelve Added** The group of Rockets hide out in a house that one of them remembers from long ago and Angel must suffer at the hands o
1. Ch. 1--Crossroads

Author's Note: Here it is! The first part of the story! It's the prologue and chapter one all rolled in together. I would like to thank everyone who sent in a character for the story. Here's the deal: I decided that I would attempt to use every character I got, just not all of them are going to be blended with pokemon and will probably show up later in the story. Anyway, here are the people who made the main character rolls:

Kyle, provided by Dark Link (who is also an author under that name. Go read his stories!)

Val, provided by She-Who-Must-No-Be-Named (another author. Go read her stuff, that is, when you're finished with mine) Also, I still need to e-mail you about your character, so if you could tell me your e-mail address or send me one, I would greatly appreciate it.

Sarena Surge, provided by Alana3355

Emery, provided by I Love James! (also an author. Be a pal and read her stuff)

Indigo, provided by Pikajenn (author of several extraordinary stories. Go. Read.)

Lani, provided by Wind (the author, not the element. Read her stuff or I'll send The Reaper after you)

And speaking of which, The Reaper is the main reason this is rated PG-13. Just so you know, none of the scenes involving him are going to be pretty, so let the faint of heart beware. He may even push the rating up to R in later parts. Okay, I'm babbling, so I'll stop now and let you enjoy the beginning of the story…right after the disclaimer.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. All I own are some beef tacos that have been sitting in the fridge for a week, and you can have them if you decide to sue me. Go ahead, they're all yours. However, I own the characters of Varia and The Reaper, so don't take them or _I'll_ be the one claiming _your_ week-old tacos. Also, all original characters belong to the people who created them, as listed above. Don't take them, either.

The End of the Road—Prologue

The girl glanced around the office nervously. It was too dark and shadowy for her tastes, but she wasn't about to say so. She allowed herself a quick glance at the man behind the desk. He was looking at the application she had just filled out. If everything went well, she'd be calling this guy "boss" by the end of the day. 

The man finally looked up from the paperwork. His face was somewhat obscured by the shadows, but she could see his icy eyes quite clearly. It was almost eerie the way he looked at her. His gaze certainly didn't help her relax. 

"Is there some reason you didn't put your full name on the application?" he asked.

"Um…I did," the girl answered.

"You didn't put a last name."

"I don't have one."

"And why not?"

She had hoped he wouldn't ask about that. Now her job opportunity was in serious jeopardy. After a short pause, she said, "I don't have a family."

"Really." 

"Yeah. I've been on my own for as long as I can remember."

The man flipped through the papers. "So you have no family, no permanent home, and you're only twelve. You expect me to hire you with these kinds of problems?"

"They aren't problems!" she argued. "I do fine enough by myself. And it's not like I don't have any skills for the job. I'm great at dealing with pokemon. I can catch wild ones without even using a pokeball, I tame them myself, and I can even take care of them if they get sick or hurt."

"And just how did you get so good with pokemon?"

"I…well, I don't really like to talk about it," the girl said, shifting her gaze to her feet. "People think I'm some sort of freak or something, or that I'm lying."

"I still want to know," the man told her, setting the papers down on the desk. He leaned forward and rested his chin on his clasped hands. The movement was almost as threatening as if he had pulled a gun on her. The girl gulped and continued to look at her feet.

"Well, ever since I was little I've always…um…been able to talk to pokemon."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, and not like other people. I can actually understand what they're saying. It doesn't matter if they're wild or tame, if they're mine or someone else's." The girl dared to look up at the man. He was reclining in his chair again. He seemed to be thinking things over. There was a long pause.

"You're hired," he said simply.

The girl blinked. "Really? Oh, thank you! I swear, I'll do the best job ever! You'll never have to worry about a pokemon being unruly or sick or anything!"

"You start tomorrow. And from now on, you will stay at The End of the Road. It's a motel I own near the gym. All expenses will be paid by the gym."

The girl's eyes nearly popped out of her head. She smiled broadly, thanked him several more times, then left the room practically skipping. The man watched her go with an intense interest.

"Welcome to the team, Varia," he said quietly.

Chapter 1—Crossing Paths 

BBRRRRRIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGG!

Varia smacked her alarm clock angrily as it went off, knocking it to the floor. With a groan, she hauled herself out of bed and staggered off to the bathroom. In an attempt to wake herself up a little more, Varia splashed cold water on her face. It helped a little, but what really woke the girl up was her reflection in the mirror. 

"Good lord! I look like the freaking bride of Frankenstein!" she shrieked at the reflection. Varia grabbed a brush off the counter and forced her black hair to look more presentable. After a few minutes, she finally had it just the way she liked it: cascading down to her mid-back. 

"That works," she said to myself. Varia set about getting ready for work after that. she brushed her teeth and pulled some clothes out of the dresser. She wore her normal outfit, which consisted of a black shirt that barely exposed her midriff and loose-fitting jeans. The teenager also pinned a leaf-shaped Earth Badge on her shirt to show she was allowed in the gym. After tossing on her clothes, Varia was soon out the door, jogging the few blocks to the Viridian Gym.

Varia had lived in Viridian for her whole eighteen years of life, and worked at the gym for the last six years. It was a pretty decent job. She got paid really well and didn't have to deal with people very often. She mostly took care of the pokemon the gym leader kept. It was a perfect job for the girl, considering how little she liked interacting with people. It probably had something to do with her childhood, Varia guessed. Having no parents, and very few people she could talk to, Varia just sort of turned out antisocial. She only really felt comfortable around pokemon. The girl even had a few of her own: a Charizard, a Ninetails, and a Rapidash. Varia preferred fire types to other types mostly because they had the most personality. Fire types always had an opinion about everything. She could barely get a word in edgewise when they were discussing something they felt strongly about.

That was another trait she'd had since she was young. She had always been able to talk to pokemon, whether they were her own, another trainer's, or wild. Not many people knew about the talent, just the gym leader and herself. Varia had told him about it when she applied for the job, hoping it would increase her chances of getting hired. Naturally, it did. It even overrode her lack of family, and got her a room at a small motel, courtesy of the gym leader. He seemed like a pretty nice guy, in her opinion.

Varia cut her musings short when she reached the gym. The girl waved to the guards as she entered the building. They just gave her curt nods, which was all she expected from them. 

The gym was dark as usual. The gym leader really had a thing for shadows or something. Varia didn't know why since she never asked. She just strode across the gym floor and took the elevator at the back of the room down to the basement. That was where all the pokemon were kept when they weren't fighting. The gym leader had a ton of pokemon. Varia guessed he was an avid collector or something. He had just about every species known, including those newly discovered pokemon found in the west.

The teenager tended to the battling pokemon first. With this being a ground type gym, the gym leader was only allowed to use certain pokemon from his collection. She stopped at the cage for Nidoking and Nidoqueen. They were a mated pair, so they lived together.

"Hey, you two, how's it going?" Varia asked casually. They responded with pokemon grunts and growls.

"Nido ni, nidoking." _We're fine, thanks._

"Queen nidoqueen!" _Aren't you sweet for asking!_

"Need anything special?" Varia asked as she poured food into their bowls.

"_Nothing today. It's been pretty calm lately_," Nidoking told her. 

"_Yes_," Nidoqueen chimed in, "_there haven't been many battles lately. Our master has been out of town for some time, now._"

"Geez, just how much traveling does a gym leader need to do?" the girl commented. He always seemed to be off somewhere else. He barely had time to run the gym.

After a brief conversation with Nidoking and Nidoqueen about their master's whereabouts, Varia set off to feed the other pokemon. She worked her way to the back of the room. She was pouring some food into a small Eevee's cage when Varia thought she heard something. The girl jumped up to her feet, expecting to see a pokemon thief sneaking around. Instead, there was nothing there. Varia looked around slowly. Her gaze settled on a large door at the back of the room. She had seen that door before, but she'd never been in that room. The gym leader told her that there were no pokemon she needed to care for in there, so she just left it alone. Now Varia was almost sure that the noise she had heard had come from behind that door. She slowly walked towards it, trying to stay as quiet as possible. When she was close enough, Varia pressed her ear against the door. She could almost make out something. It sounded like mechanical noises, so the girl guessed it was just some hydraulics for the gym. She shrugged and walked away.

__

I know you. I can feel you. Come back to me.

"What the hell?!" Varia shrieked. _Something_ had just said that to her, she was sure of it. But there was no one there. The place was empty, except for the pokemon. Varia frowned, but pushed the weird experience out of her mind. Hopefully, she thought to herself, there wouldn't be anymore weird incidents like that today. Varia liked her predictable little schedule. It was a well-worn road for her. 

But that's the problem with roads, she supposed. No matter how long they are, they have to end somewhere.

Varia blinked. She didn't know where that thought had come from. It just kind of popped into her mind. With a shake of her head, the girl set about finishing up her chores with the pokemon. She fed the rest of the fighting pokemon, then the others. She cleaned out their cages and made small talk with some of them. By the time Varia was finished, it was noon. So, after saying goodbye to the pokemon, she left the gym and walked across the street to a small restaurant. There were tons of places to eat in Viridian, but she had always liked this little restaurant, called The Persian's Meow. And the best part about the 'Meow was that it was also owned by the gym leader, so she ate for free.

Varia walked in the door and took her normal seat in a booth in the corner. With a wave of her hand, she flagged down a waiter and ordered lunch. As he hurried off to the kitchen, Varia glanced around the restaurant. It was pretty full today, which was odd. Usually this place was near empty, which made her wonder how it got enough revenue to stay open.

As she was speculating on how the 'Meow made a profit, someone slid into the opposite seat of the booth. She looked at him, surprised. This was certainly different from her normal schedule.

Well, Varia thought, so much for an ordinary day. 

He looked about Varia's age, maybe a little younger, and had white hair and gray eyes. The boy was taller than she was. Probably about six-foot-two, Varia estimated. He was dressed in a gray turtleneck, black leather jacket, and black pants. He smiled politely at Varia. She couldn't help but notice that he was cute. Still, she wasn't sure if she could trust him. Hardly anyone was trustworthy, in her opinion, except for pokemon.

"What do you want?" she asked suspiciously. 

He seemed kind of surprised by the question. "Um, you seem kind of upset right now. Maybe I'll just leave you alone for now."

"Hold on!" Varia said as he got up to leave. "Look, I've had kind of a bad day and I don't really get along with people. You don't have to leave, you know." Varia mentally smacked herself for that. Geez, she though, I meet one good-looking guy and all of a sudden I'm a doormat. 

"Are you sure it's okay?" he asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah, it's fine," she answered. He smiled again and sat back down. "So, why did you pick me to talk to out of all the people in this place?"

"You're the only one sitting alone. Oh, and my name's Kyle."

"Kyle? That's great," Varia said acidly. She was still upset with herself for inviting the guy back. 

Kyle looked confused. "What do you mean by that?"

The girl looked him straight in the eyes. "It's obvious you want something from me. People don't just walk up to a complete stranger to make small-talk. If you're some sort of cultist or salesman, you can take a hike because I'm not interested." To Varia's surprise, he didn't get up and leave. Instead, he stayed right where he was. The waiter returned with my meal, and Kyle had the audacity to order something to eat as well.

"Excuse me, but didn't I just tell you to get lost?!" Varia snapped. 

"Not quite. You said I should leave if I was a cultist or a salesman. I'm not, so it should be okay for me to stay, right?" he explained with a smile. "I'm not trying to get anything from you. I just wanted to have lunch with a human being before I have to leave for Johto."

"You're going to Johto? What for?"

"I'm on assignment to research some of those new pokemon. I'm mostly looking into the new element type, dark pokemon."

"Oh," was all Varia said. 

"I'm going to be on my own for this research, so I thought a little human contact before I left would be nice. But, if you would rather I leave…"

"No, it's okay," she finally conceded. 

The waiter then brought Kyle's meal and we both began to eat. Varia hated to admit it, but it _was_ nice having a person to talk to while she ate. And Kyle was pretty interesting. 

At one point during the meal, he asked, "So, how'd you win that Earth Badge?"

Varia blinked, then realized what he was talking about. She pointed to the Badge pinned to her shirt. "Oh, this? I didn't win it. I just have it because I work at the gym. I take care of the pokemon there. I've been their head pokemon caretaker for six years now," she explained proudly.

"What's his name?" Kyle asked.

"Whose name?"

"The gym leader's."

Varia was shocked by the question. "Well, uh…I don't know. I never asked."

"You've worked for the guy for _six_ years and you don't know his name?"

"No…" Varia said slowly. Then she got defensive. "But it's not like I need to! I just take care of the pokemon. I never asked his name, and he never told me. That's the way it is at that gym—don't ask, don't tell."

Kyle looked thoughtful. "That's different. Most gyms don't run that way. I wonder if he's hiding something…"

Varia snorted disdainfully. "Yeah right. He's a gym leader. What do they have to hide?"

****

Giovanni stepped out of his private limousine, smiling to himself. His "business" trip had gone better than planned. As he walked towards the Viridian Gym, two other figures exited the limo as well. One was wearing a gray Team Rocket uniform. She had curly, brown hair and sparkling green eyes and very large pink earrings. The Rocket girl was escorting another girl, this one handcuffed and looking far less lively than the first. The girl's brown eyes were downcast and almost completely hidden by her long red hair that fell around her face. She wore long jeans and a tattered shirt. Several small scars could be seen on her skin, hinting at others that were hidden under her clothes.

Giovanni turned to the two girls. He addressed the Rocket girl, "Lani, I want you to take that slave to the holding cells. No, better yet, give her to Grim." Giovanni opened the door to his gym and disappeared inside. The Rocket girl, Lani, smiled at her captive.

"Oooh, you're in trouble now! The boss just said to send you to The Reaper!" she exclaimed gleefully. When the captive girl didn't answer, Lani's smile faded and she shoved the prisoner roughly to a different door. She pushed in a special access code to open the door, which led to an elevator. Lani pushed the button for the very last floor. The elevator quickly whisked them to their destination. It dinged and opened its doors. The captive was ushered down several dark halls and past several prison cells (some of which were occupied) before they stopped in front of a large metal door. Someone had carved a scythe emblem into the metal, along with the words "Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here." Lani knocked on the door, then pushed it open.

The captive gasped at the sight of the room. It was filled with all kinds of torture equipment. Each device looked even more terrifying than the next. There were dull red spots all over the floor, which were difficult to make out in the dim light supplied only by a few torches hanging from the walls. Off in the corner, the captive thought she could make out the shape of cages. She gasped and drew back when she saw something move inside one of them. 

Lani pushed the girl into the room, ignoring her obvious fear. "Hey, Reaper! The boss has a special one for you!" she called. A figure moved out of the shadows. It was a tall boy, well over six feet. He was wearing a white shirt with a red 'R' emblazoned one it and black pants, as well as a long coat that brushed against his ankles. Another red 'R' adorned the left lapel of the coat. The blond boy stepped forward into the light. The captive couldn't help but think that he didn't look too threatening, but she had learned long ago that one should never trust in appearances.

The boy walked right up to the captive and grabbed her chin, forcing her head up and tilting it left and right as if inspecting a piece of merchandise. He then looked back at Lani. "You're giving me _this_? There's no way she's a spy or a defecting Rocket. What, exactly, does the boss want me to do? Take her out to dinner and a movie?"

Lani ignored the sarcasm. "She's a slave he just bought in the Orange Islands. He was told that she tends to run away a lot. I think he's going to give her to the scientists later as a research specimen, but he wants to make sure she won't try anything while she's there. That's where you come in."

"Ah, that makes more sense," he said, a smile crossing his face. "Just leave her here. I'll have her nice and broken when you come back."

"Yeah, whatever. Just don't kill her or hurt her too much. I could get in trouble for that," Lani said, then walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her. 

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said quietly, his smile twisting cruelly. Then he looked back at the captive. She cringed slightly at the boy's gaze. "Hey, relax. Stop acting like I'm going to hurt you."

She gave him a skeptical look and gestured slightly to the room's decor.

The boy threw his hands up in the air with mock hurt. "So suspicious! Everyone brought to me thinks I'm going to hurt them! Well, I usually do, but that's beside the point." He turned around and headed towards the back of the room, his coat swirling. The captive girl glanced back at the door, wondering if she should make a run for it. Suddenly, the boy looked over his shoulder at her. "Well, are you coming or not? Oh, I see. Planning an escape, are you? And just how far do you think you're going to get? You're seven stories underground and in the heart of Team Rocket's headquarters. Run if you like, but when the guards drag you back in here, it's only going to be less pleasant for you." He smirked and waited for the girl's answer. She considered his words, then hung her head in defeat and followed after him. The boy almost seemed upset that she hadn't tried to run.

He led her to a small, open space in the room with some sort of cabinet, a small table, a wheeled chair, and a guttering fire in a fireplace. They seemed to be the only objects in the room not meant for torture. He gestured to a shady object just out of the light. "Please, have a seat." The captive walked over to what she assumed was a chair and started to sit down. Suddenly, the blond boy grabbed her arm and jerked her back into a standing position. 

"_Not_ that chair," he said with a twisted smile. The girl looked at what she had been about to sit on, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness. To her horror, she found that she had almost sat on a chair covered in inch-long spikes. The boy pointed out a different chair for her, then sat in the wheeled chair backwards, leaning over the headrest. The girl sat down and noticed there were clamps on the armrests and several wires sticking out of it and leading off into the darkness. She was sitting in an electric chair. She didn't worry, though, as the boy seemed preoccupied with whatever was in the cabinet and had no intention of shocking her.

Still rummaging through the cabinet, he asked, "What's your name?" When the question was answered by silence, the boy swiveled the chair to look at her. "You only make it harder on yourself if you don't answer." He pulled something out of the cabinet and strapped it to himself. It appeared to be an ammo belt slung from shoulder to hip, but this one had only small daggers on it. He removed one and slowly turned it in his hands. "I'll only ask once more. What's your name?" The girl was again stubbornly silent. The boy gave a slight shrug. Then, in one fluid motion, he hurled the dagger at the girl's head. Before she could even draw a breath, the weapon was embedded in the chair's wooden back, barely half an inch from her ear. While the girl struggled to get her heart to slow down, the boy drew another dagger from the belt.

"Emery! My name is Emery!" the captive shrieked before he could throw the second weapon.

The boy smiled and slid his dagger back into the belt. "Ah, that's better. Now, if you'll allow me," he said, holding out his hand, "I am known as The Reaper, for obvious reasons. My actual name's Grim, but no one 'cept the boss calls me that."

Emery stared down at his hand, too surprised to do anything with it. After a brief moment, The Reaper pulled his hand away from her. He spun in the chair and sorted through the cabinet again.

"So, they say you're a slave, huh? How long you been one?"

"All my life," she answered. Emery gulped nervously as the boy pulled a tool out of the cabinet. It appeared to be some sort of knife with a barbed tip. He lay the knife on the table beside him.

"And how old are you?" He pulled out a small device shaped like a circular saw and deposited it on the table as well. 

"Fourteen."

"Two years younger than me," he murmured quietly, pulling out a sickle-shaped blade and examining it. With a shake of his head, he put it back and pulled out an even bigger sickle. He laughed lowly and set it on the table next to the other devices of torture.

"You're only sixteen?" Emery asked, surprised.

"I'm asking the questions," he said curtly. He continued pulling out various unpleasant-looking instruments and interrogating the girl. "Why did you run away so many times? You knew your master would find you and beat you within an inch of your life every time you did, so why do it?"

"I…I didn't like what they tried to make me do."

At this, The Reaper stopped rifling through the cabinet and spun the chair to face her. He looked mildly intrigued. Crossing his arms on the back of the chair, he asked, "What kinds of things didn't you like doing?"

"Things that were wrong. Attempting to kill pokemon barehanded while they bet on the outcome. Gladiator matches with other slaves. Other less pleasant…things." Emery blushed slightly and focussed her gaze on the floor. She didn't see The Reaper's sadistic smile.

"Fascinating. And to think they want to experiment on you. But on to more important topics of discussion. Answer this question honestly, or I'll bury a dagger in your leg. Do you intend on trying to escape from Team Rocket?" He watched her like a hawk. Emery slowly lifted her head up to look directly into the boy's eyes. She saw his hand resting on the barbed knife on the table and knew he was serious about her telling the truth. After all, a knife in the leg wouldn't prevent her from being a science experiment. After a long pause, she answered the question.

"Yes."

The Reaper's grin broadened and his eyes took on an almost insane glint. He stood up and pulled a long metal pole out of the fireplace. The end was glowing white-hot.

"I was _so_ hoping you would say that," he said, laughing maniacally. Emery's eyes widened and she tried to run, but he caught her and threw her back in the electric chair roughly. He forced her left arm onto the armrest and clamped it there. The girl struggled to free herself, but it was all in vain. She stared up, horrified at the boy holding the sparking iron. Then slowly, very slowly, he touched the burning tip to her left wrist. She screamed as the metal seared right through her skin. The Reaper laughed even louder as he dragged the iron slowly up her arm towards her shoulder blade.

The slave girl fainted before the iron got past her elbow.

Author's End Note: And there's the first part. The next part should be up soon. Also, only one person signed up to be a villain! Can you believe that?! So, if you want another chance to be in the story, I could use some more villains. Just send me an e-mail or leave a review (with some way to contact you) and I'll give you all the details. Thanks!


	2. Ch.2--Pain and Suffering

Author's Note: Wow, I got this sucker out fast! Anyway, I still haven't received an e-mail or a response of any kind from Val's creator. Okay, I'm outright telling you now that if I don't get a response by the time chapter 3 comes out, I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut Val from the story. Please, _please_, send me an e-mail or something! Well, that's all for that. On to the disclaimers.

Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon, but I wish I did. Hell, and while we're at it, I'd also like a kitten. And some gum. I do, however own Varia and The Reaper, so please don't use them without permission. All the other characters belong to their respective creators, as listed in the first chapter. Slater, who was not mentioned in that list, belongs to Dark Link. Thank you and good day.

Chapter 2—Pain and Suffering

Varia flopped down on her bed, tired from all the work she had done earlier. She closed her eyes and sighed wearily.

"Charrrrr," growled something near her. She opened her eyes and saw her Charizard looking down at her curiously.

"Nothing's wrong," Varia said, sitting up. "I'm just tired. Since the gym leader got back, everyone's been wanting to battle him. I've been working around the clock to keep all the pokemon in top shape."

"_Oh. I thought you were thinking about that boy again_," the pokemon said with a grin.

"Hey! You stop making fun of me, you big lizard!" Varia exclaimed. With a playful smile, she grabbed Charizard around the neck and held him in a headlock. The fire pokemon played along, pretending to be unable to break free.

"_Admit it. You like the guy_."

"Well, he was pretty nice and he knew a lot about pokemon…"

"_And you thought he was cute._"

"Yeah, that, too. But he's off in Johto now." Varia released Charizard and looked thoughtful. "Of course, he said he'd visit me when he got back."

"_That's something to look forward to_."

Before Varia could answer, the phone on her nightstand rang. She reached over and picked it up. Charizard looked on with a questioning expression on his face.

"Hello? Yes, this is Varia. What? Come back to the gym? But I just finished working there for the day! Huh? Oh, geez, you have got to be kidding me! Oh, alright, I'm on my way." She hung up the phone and walked towards the door.

"_What happened? Is something wrong at the gym?_" Charizard asked.

"Yeah. It appears that there's a Tauros running amok in the gym. They want me to take care of it for them. Be back in a few," Varia said as she closed the door to her room behind her. She headed away from the hotel, passing the sign at the entrance. It read simply "The End of the Road," with the 'R' in 'Road' being big and red. Varia never understood that, since it made the sign seem really tacky, but she certainly wasn't going to bring that up with the management. It was just weird in her opinion, that was all.

When she reached the gym, she could hear the sounds of an enraged Tauros rampaging in the battle arena. Varia opened the door slowly so she wouldn't startle the pokemon. When she peeked in the door, she nearly laughed out loud. The scene was unbelievable. Several people dressed in some sort of black uniforms were attempting to catch the out-of-control Tauros with safari balls. They would throw the balls at the pokemon, but every one missed. The Tauros was only becoming more upset by the onslaught and was charging at the people trying to catch her. Varia could see where the pokemon had crashed into walls, denting them significantly. With a shake of her head and a sigh, she stepped into the arena, ready to show all the strange black-uniformed people just how to calm an irate pokemon.

She whistled loudly to attract the pokemon's attention, then called out, "Hey, Tauros! Hey!"

The pokemon ground to a halt inches from smashing another wall and looked at Varia. "_You! Are you one of them? Have you brought the metal beast?_"

Varia took a few steps towards the pokemon. "No, I didn't bring a metal beast. It's okay, I just want to talk to you." She wondered what the Tauros was talking about. A metal beast? The way the creature was running around and attacking indiscriminately, Varia wondered if it was under the influence of a psychic confusion attack.

"_You are one of them! I can smell it on you! The metal beast! Where is it?! What did it do to my calves? My herd? Why am I alone?!_" she shrieked.

"I'm not one of them," Varia assured the pokemon calmly. "I'm a friend. I'm going to help you." With a few more steps, Varia was standing next to the Tauros, which pawed the ground dangerously. Ignoring the aggressive movement, the girl reached out and stroked the pokemon's nose. The action calmed the Tauros down enough that Varia could stand next to her and pet her back. She still couldn't understand what Tauros was talking about with the metal beast, but she could understand about losing her babies and her herd. The girl turned to one of the black-uniformed men and snapped, "Why did you take her calves away? She's worried sick about them! She's lost and afraid without her herd! You should know better than to separate a Tauros from a herd so suddenly."

"We have the rest of the herd, but that Tauros won't allow itself to be caught," the man explained haughtily, as if he was superior to Varia in some way. She didn't like that tone. After all, _she_ was the one who calmed the pokemon down!

"Look, just go get the safari balls with her calves in them. If she sees that they're okay, she'll be calm enough for you to catch," Varia said irritably. 

"But we don't know which balls her calves are in!" another black-uniformed person complained.

"Then look through them all, dammit!" Varia shouted, then turned back to the distraught mother Tauros. "Don't worry, they're going to find your children and bring them back to you."

The pokemon snorted and stomped the ground. "_A metal beast. It was a metal beast. We were happy until the metal beast. Now my herd is gone, as are my children. It was their fault._"

Varia looked confused. "You mean those people in the black uniforms?"

"_A metal beast. They made it attack. They…they…and you're one of them!_" Tauros exclaimed, pulling away from Varia's touch. "_You! You're one of them! You're like their leader!_"

"What?! No, I'm not their leader! I don't even know who they are!" Varia shouted back. She suddenly lost her temper with the pokemon. All her talk about metal beasts and _them_, whoever they were, was getting on her nerves. "Now listen to me! I'm not one of them, there is no metal beast, and your herd is perfectly safe, so calm down!"

Unfortunately, Varia's outburst seemed to do just the opposite. The mother Tauros suddenly cried out shrilly and charged the girl. Varia was too slow to react. The last thing she remembered was one of the Tauros's horns tearing into her side. Then everything went black.

****

The black-uniformed Rockets rushed down the halls of Team Rocket's headquarters, carrying the unconscious girl, who was losing an intense amount of blood from the gaping wound on her side. The group was running as fast as they could with her in tow to the medical facility on one of the building's lower floors. Normally, a civilian like the girl would have been dumped outside the gym, the only hope of survival being dependent on passersby. However, Giovanni had insisted this girl be taken to their own medical facility as quickly as possible. He said it was because she was too valuable to the gym to lose, but some of the Rockets wondered if he didn't have other intentions for her.

The group of Rockets and the injured girl charged down the hall, nearly running into Reaper as he walked out of the lounge. He flattened himself against the wall just in time to avoid being trampled, then yelled some very choice words at the Rockets. With one last glare at the fleeting group, Reaper adjusted his long coat and ambled back to his special torture chamber, whistling happily as he went and sipping coffee from a styrofoam cup. He pushed the great metal door open and strode over to the rack, which was now occupied by a young man dressed in a torn uniform from a rival gang.

"So," Reaper said casually, setting his coffee down on a nearby box-shaped object, "you still feeling like you don't want to talk?"

"Go to hell!" the young man spat.

"Oh, we're already there, my friend," Reaper said smoothly. He reached over and turned the crank attached to the rack. The man winced and gritted his teeth as the ropes bound to his wrists and ankles pulled his body in opposite directions.

"Really, man, you're starting to bore me," Reaper yawned, taking another sip of coffee. "And trust me, you don't want to get me bored. Now, I'm going to ask my question one more time, and if you don't answer, we'll move on, understand?" With a sadistic smile, Reaper asked, "Where are the pokemon you stole from us?"

"I'd rather die than talk!"

Reaper's smile broadened. "Wonderful! Now it's time to break out the _truly_ fun stuff!" He picked up his coffee from the box and opened the lid. The man on the rack strained to see what was in there, but he couldn't until Reaper lifted it from the box. It was some sort of insect or something that the Rocket was holding by the tail. It thrashed its legs and large pincers angrily.

"You know what this is?" Reaper asked casually. "It's a scorpion, specifically, a western desert scorpion. It's hard to find these guys anymore, you know. Most of 'em got wiped out by the increase of various pokemon species. The western desert scorpion is one of the most poisonous breeds of arachnid to have ever existed. And surprisingly, they're addicted to coffee. Who woulda guessed?" Reaper watched, pleased, as the man gazed at the scorpion in horror. Then the Rocket dumped his cup of coffee on his victim's chest. The man cried out as the scalding liquid touched his bare skin. Then the man positively screamed his lungs out as Reaper dropped the scorpion on his chest. The arachnid scuttled around, obviously attracted to the coffee.

"Please don't scream. It makes my little pets very upset," Reaper said calmly.

"I'll talk! I'll talk! Just get it off me!" the man screamed in panic.

"Too late for that." Reaper grinned and laughed maniacally. "Oh, didn't I tell you? We already found the pokemon you stole. It seems you left them with your partner who was trying to hide in Viridian Forest. After reclaiming our property, we killed him and sent most of him back to your gang. But I kept this part just for you."

Reaper reached into the box and removed something from it, setting it on the man's chest. The prisoner screamed when he found himself looking into the cold, dead eyes of his former partner. No matter what he did, he couldn't dislodge the severed head from its resting place on his chest. 

Reaper looked on with demonic pleasure. Then the Rocket picked up the box that had contained the scorpion and head and, very deliberately, turned it upside down over his prisoner's head. The man screamed even more as a dozen more poisonous arachnids rained down on his face. As Reaper walked away from the victim, still carrying the box, he smiled a twisted smile and called back over his shoulder, "At least you get to see your partner one last time. That's something to take comfort in." Reaper walked to the back of the room, where his cabinet of torture instruments was located, as the screams of the young man slowly dwindled into gurgling, then nothing. He sat in his wheeled chair next to the small fire and set the box on its side. In a few minutes, a line of scorpions crawled away from the corpse and into the box. As soon as they were all in, Reaper righted it and closed the lid.

"So you've taken to training insects now?" a new voice spoke. Reaper looked up at its source, sneering at the boy who now stood in front of him. He was wearing a black jumpsuit, devoid of the usual red 'R', and dark glasses. His black hair hung loosely to the top of his shoulders. Reaper stood up to his full six feet, five inches height, making him over half a foot taller than the other boy.

"Don't you damn psychics ever knock?" he growled.

"We teleport where we need to go. There's no need to knock," the boy answered.

Reaper took a step closer to the boy. "Listen, Slater, this is my world down here, so you have to obey my rules, whether or not you're one of them super psychics or whatever."

"I'm a Team Rocket Elite Psychic, and you know that," Slater returned. He then pointed at the box on the ground. "So, how'd you get those bugs to do that?"

"When Death calls, every creature, no matter how small or large, must obey," he answered.

"You're not Death, Reaper. You're just an over-glorified sadist."

Reaper laughed sardonically. "Better a sadist than a sideshow freak."

Slater glared at the taller boy from behind his glasses, his eyes starting to glow red.

"Go ahead, try something psychic on me, freak," Reaper challenged. "Let's see how long you go unpunished when the boss finds out you damaged his best interrogator."

Slater's eyes glowed brighter for a moment, then dimmed. He turned away in anger and stalked across the room. When he finally calmed himself down enough, he looked at Reaper again and asked, "Why is it that you hate us psychics so much? Is it just because we're more powerful than you? Because we can read your mind any time we want?"

"More powerful? Ha! You have no idea just how strong I am. But to answer your question, I have a much more personal reason for hating you sideshow freaks."

"Which is…?"

The corner of Reaper's mouth turned up in a disturbing half-smile. "Why don't you read my mind and find out? Or are you too afraid of what you might discover?" 

Slater didn't answer. Instead, he said, "The reason I came down to this hellhole is to tell you that the boss wants you to interrogate that slave girl again. You know, the one you burned pretty badly the other day."

"Ah, how could I forget her? I'll question her in her cell this time, where she might feel safe from me. Let me just grab a few things and I'll be on my way!" he said gleefully, throwing open the doors to the cabinet.

"And I'm to accompany you."

"What?!" Reaper shouted, spinning to face the other boy again.

"The boss didn't like the burn you gave her last time," Slater said calmly. "I'm going to make sure you don't get carried away again."

With a snarl, Reaper turned back to the cabinet and began collecting the tools he would need. He would have loved to stick one of them right in that damn psychic's gut, but he could get demoted for killing that guy. Well, he figured, he'd just have to wait for a time when the boss wouldn't care if one of his so-called Psychic Elite bought the farm. And, if Reaper had his way, that time wouldn't be too far away.

****

Emery cowered in a corner of her cell. She hated to admit it, but she was terrified of her situation. When she had been bought by Giovanni in the Orange Islands, she thought she might get a chance at freedom since he was taking her away from that accursed place. But he had only brought her here, and it was far worse than the black market slave trade had ever been. This place had The Reaper. She shivered at the thought of that boy and touched her left arm tenderly. He had burned a semi-straight line on her arm from her wrist to her shoulder. The pain had been ungodly, and it still throbbed even now. Emery was afraid it might be getting infected. She was pretty sure The Reaper wouldn't have bothered to cleanse the wound after he created it.

"Hi there!"

Emery started at the sound of the cheerful voice. She jumped up to her feet, taking a defensive stance. To her surprise, the person standing in front of her was not a Rocket. It was a girl, taller than her by a few inches, wearing a crop-top, cutoff shorts, and hiking boots. The girl had straight silvery hair that flowed down past her shoulder blades and sparkling amber eyes.

"W-who are you? How did you get in here?" Emery asked, trying to sound brave.

"My name's Indigo," the other girl answered, still sounding happier than she should be in a place like this. "I'm from the cell nest to yours. I thought I'd, you know, drop by and say hello. Like a welcome wagon or something."

"But how did you get in here?" Emery asked, thoroughly confused but no longer afraid. This girl, Indigo, wasn't threatening in any way. There was no doubt in the slave girl's mind that Indigo's intentions were friendly.

"How'd I get here? Oh, I just sorta walked. You know, through the wall," she said with a smile.

"What?!"

"I know, I know, you're gonna say it's impossible, right? I'd have to be a ghost or something, right? Well, I am, or rather, I was."

Emery shook her head. "I have no idea what you're talking about, and I suspect you don't, either."

"No, I understand perfectly!" Indigo exclaimed defensively. Then she sighed. "Okay, let me just explain. I died once and—"

"You died?" Emery raised an eyebrow skeptically. "And…what? You just got better?"

Indigo put a hand on her hip and waggled one finger at Emery. "Now, if you keep interrupting, you're never going to hear the end of my story," she scolded.

"Um…sorry. Please continue."

"Okay. Well, I've been here for a while and Team Rocket's scientists were doing some experiments on me one day when I died. All the scientists were all freaked out because there was a shortage of human specimens or something like that. I'm not really sure what they were so upset about, considering I was dead when most of this happened. Anyway, I woke up a couple hours later and they told me that I had died. I asked them if I was dead, then how come I'm alive right now? And they said that they had given me some ghost pokemon DNA, which revived me, or something like that. They were talking all scientific at the time, so I'm not really sure what they were blathering about. Anyway, as a sort of side effect, I found I could walk through walls like a ghost pokemon and fly in the air. It's really weird, but don't tell anyone, okay? The Rockets don't know, and who knows what they'll do to me if they did know." Indigo took a breath after the long speech and looked at Emery expectantly. 

The slave girl didn't respond right away. She was too busy worrying about what Indigo had said about experimenting. Did Team Rocket really use human subjects to test on, or was this strange girl just a special case? What if Emery was next? What if she _died_?! Sure, her life wasn't exactly wonderful right now, but she was determined to make it better at some point. She just _couldn't_ die until she had found out what true freedom was like!

"Hey, are you okay? You look a little sick," Indigo interrupted the other girl's thoughts. "You're all pale and stuff, not to mention that nasty scar on your arm. Where'd you get that, anyway?"

"From me," a voice said. The girls turned to see Reaper and Slater standing in the doorway to the cell. The former was wearing his usual twisted smile. He looked at Emery. "You miss me, sweetheart?"

"No! Not you!" she nearly screamed, backing up against the wall. To her surprise, Indigo jumped in front of her, taking up a defensive position and glaring directly at Reaper.

"You leave her alone, you sicko," she growled.

"Ah, my reputation precedes me," Reaper answered, a hint of pride in his voice. "And I seriously doubt you're going to stop me from doing my job. Now, step aside."

"Not on your life!"

Reaper grinned. "I just love it when they're stubborn! It makes my job infinitely more fun." He pulled a knife from the belt across his chest and aimed it at the silver-haired girl. He was about to throw it when Slater reached out and grabbed his arm. Reaper turned to the psychic, his eyes burning with hatred. "What do you think you're doing?! This is my job!"

"Don't kill her," Slater responded calmly. "We can't have one of the research specimens dying…again," he added quietly. Indigo heard that and her eyes widened in surprise.

"What the hell are you going on about, you damn psychic?" Reaper snarled, sheathing the knife reluctantly. "It wasn't like I was going to kill her. Just wound her. Besides, research specimen or not, I've got a job to do and she's in the way."

"I'll take care of her," Slater said. His eyes glowed a faint red behind the glasses and Indigo was suddenly surround by a sparkling blue aura. She struggled against it, but she could not break free of the psychic hold. Slater lifted her into the air and moved her away from Emery.

Reaper sneered at the display of psychic power. Then he walked over to the slave girl, who cringed at his approach. The boy smiled maliciously, drawing a large hunting knife that hung at his side. He moved it up to the girl's neck and said very quietly, "Now then, how about you and I have a little talk?"

Author's End Note: I hate cliffhangers, don't you? ^_^ Well, I hope to get the next part out really soon, so you won't be in suspense for long. Will Varia be okay after the mad Tauros attack? What will happen to poor Emery? Why does The Reaper hate psychics so much? And what the hell is all this raving about a metal beast?! Well, I'm guessing that the really astute people may have already picked up on that. Anyway, I'm doing my best to get these sections out as fast as I can, hopefully once a week at the most. Please leave a review so I know how I'm doing! Thanks!


	3. Ch. 3--Secrets Not Revealed

Author's Note: Okay, here's part three! I personally think it's a little boring, but it's necessary to the rest of the story. And, hey, we finally get to meet Sarena! The title to this chapter refers to the fact that we learn that there _are_ secrets, but the secrets themselves aren't revealed, just so you're not confused. Anyway, the little excerpt from _The Road Not Taken_ is kind of expresses the main idea of the story, so I put it here. That, and I really like Robert Frost. But enough of that. Hope you enjoy this part!

Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon. I do own Varia and Reaper, so don't take them without asking first. Kyle and Slater, Sarena Surge, Emery, Indigo, and Lani belong to Dark Link, The Many Personalitied One, I Love James!, Pikajenn, and Wind, respectively, so ask them before using their characters. That is all.

Chapter 3—Secrets Not Revealed

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- 

I took the one less traveled by, 

And that has made all the difference. 

--Robert Frost, _The Road Not Taken_

Varia awoke groggily. The first thing she noticed was that she was in a bed instead of the gym floor. The second thing she noticed was the intense whiteness of the room and the sterile smell of the place. The girl found herself wrapped in blankets and saw an IV in her arm. She had somehow ended up in a hospital. Varia started to sit up.

"Just lie still, Varia. Don't try to move," someone instructed her. She could make out a form through her sleep-blurred vision and assumed that was who was talking. Varia tried to sit up again when a hand pushed her firmly back down into the bed. "Varia, don't try to get up. You're on a very narrow cart, and you might fall off. The boss doesn't want you tearing that wound open again."

"Wound?" Varia asked. "Wha…?" She turned to the figure beside her bed for answers. "What's going on?"

"You got injured while trying to calm a rampaging Tauros down. The boss had you brought here for help. Oh, and you're talking to your IV stand. I'm on this side."

Varia blinked with surprise and blushed, slightly embarrassed that she hadn't been able to tell she was talking to an inanimate object. She rubbed her eyes clear and turned her head to look at the _real_ person who was talking to her. Varia saw that the person was a young girl dressed in blue OR scrubs. She had long blond hair and the strangest purple eyes. Her ears were pierced, but instead of earrings the girl wore two gym badges. Varia recognized them as the Marsh Badges belonging to the Saffron Gym. She had another Marsh Badge, as well as a Thunder Badge from the Vermilion Gym, on a chain around her neck. She was holding a chart in front of her, glancing at Varia every once in a while, then scribbling something down on it.

"Who are you?" Varia asked. "Where am I?"

"My name is Sarena," the young girl answered. "And this is our medical center. I'm taking care of you for now." Sarena wrote something else on the chart, then began to pull the blankets up on one side. "Now, let's see how that wound is doing."

"And just how old are you?" Varia asked, a trace of anger biting into her words. She did not like having some strange person poking and prodding her.

"I'm thirteen," Sarena answered, pulling up the blankets a bit more.

"Thirteen?!" Varia screeched. She nearly jumped off the bed cart. "You're doctoring me and you're not even old enough to drive?!"

"Hey, calm down!" Sarena yelled back. "I don't care whether you want me as a doctor or not, so just lie flat! Don't make me drug you into a coma," she threatened.

Realizing that she didn't have much of a choice, Varia laid back once more, letting the younger girl examine her injury. Varia twisted her neck around, trying to get a look at it. That was when she noticed something fairly significant about her situation.

"Um…where's my shirt?" she asked sheepishly, starting to blush again.

"I had to take it off you to get to this injury," Sarena explained. "Besides, it got torn up by that Tauros, so you probably won't be wearing it again."

"There aren't…um…guys around here, are there?" Varia pulled the blankets up to her chin, glancing around nervously. Sarena smiled at the other girl's timid behavior.

"Don't worry. We're the only ones here for now. Just try to relax." She turned back to her examination. Varia still held the blankets tightly in her fists, but she tried to relax the rest of her body as much as possible. 

"So, am I going to be okay?" she ventured.

"Yes," Sarena assured her. "Actually, I'm quite surprised by how little serious damage there was. Give it a few days, and I'm sure you can start working again." She set the medical chart down on the end of the bed. "By the way, that's an interesting tattoo you have."

"Huh? Oh, you mean the one on my back," Varia said.

"Yeah. What is it, exactly?"

"It's a Mew, I think. You see, I had this dream a while ago and that's where I saw the design," Varia told her. "It was the weirdest dream. I kept seeing this mountain and some sort of little animal darting through the grass. Then there was this big image of a Mew that looked like it was dancing, but it was all old-looking. Like some sort of ancient Aztec carving or something. The design was so intriguing that I had it tattooed on my back." 

"It's big," Sarena commented. "It takes up almost your whole back. How could you stand having that done?"

Varia shrugged. "I don't know. I just managed."

"You get an expansive tattoo with no problem, but a nick by a Tauros horn knocks you out?" Sarena mumbled, obviously thinking to herself. Varia overheard it anyway and frowned.

"Look, it was mostly the shock of getting attacked. It's been years since I've been tagged by a pokemon, and I just wasn't ready for it. But there was also something else. It was like an explosion in my head when the Tauros gored me. Strange."

Sarena looked up, interested. "An explosion in your head? What do you mean?"

Varia sighed. "I don't know. It's hard to explain. It was just…an explosion. A mental one, though, not a physical one. That's the only way to put it. Maybe all that pokemon's raving got to me."

"The Tauros was raving?"

"Yeah. She kept going on and on about a stupid metal beast or something. I still don't have a clue what she was talking about."

"Hmm." Sarena looked thoughtful. She picked the chart back up and wrote something else on it. Varia wondered what she was writing but she didn't ask. She doubted the young "doctor" would tell her. Anyway, she was more concerned about prying eyes than medical notes. 

Sarena finished whatever she was writing and looked at Varia. "I'm just going to take this to the boss. Don't move until I get back, understand?"

"Not a problem," Varia answered. 

"Good. I'll be right back."

As the younger girl left the room, Varia looked around the room again uneasily. She didn't know where she was, but she did know one thing: this wasn't the Viridian Hospital.

****

Sarena strode quickly down the halls of Team Rocket's headquarters. She was heading for the boss's office, and dreading every step of the way. She hated talking with him because he terrified her. Sarena had never met a man so cold and heartless in all her life. Why had she wanted to join Team Rocket in the first place? She could have been studying to be a gym leader right now! Well, she thought, hindsight's twenty-twenty. 

She reached the boss's office a lot faster than she would have liked. She stood in front of the huge wooden doors and knocked on one softly. Then she pushed the door open. The boss was sitting at his desk, looking over some files. He glanced up as the girl entered.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I just finished with that girl, sir."

"Ah, yes," he said, leaning back in his chair. "And how is Varia doing?"

"She's going to be fine. The injury from the Tauros wasn't bad at all. It just needed a few stitches. She should be fine in two to three days. But…"

When she paused, the boss's eyes grew colder. "What is it?"

"Well," Sarena said slowly, "she mentioned something about an explosion in her mind when the Tauros gored her. She says that that was what knocked her out more than the actually physical pain."

"Could you find out anything about it?"

"I tried to read her mind, sir, but it was like there was a barrier in the way. I couldn't find out anything but the most basic information about her."

The boss took a moment to soak in the information. Sarena waited patiently for his instructions. No doubt he would want her either drafted into Team Rocket or eliminated. That was what happened to every outsider that ended up in the headquarters.

Finally, he said, "I want you to keep watch over Varia for now."

Sarena blinked in surprise. "W-what?"

"You heard me," the boss said gruffly. "And I'm going to send in one of the Elite Psychics to try and read her mind. The job was obviously too big for a beginner like you. Dismissed." He waved his hand to indicate she should leave, and Sarena wasted no time in exiting the office.

As she walked back to the medical center, she couldn't help but feel angry with her boss. He had called her a _beginner_! Of all the nerve! After all, she was _only_ the daughter of the world's most powerful psychic! A beginner, ha! That statement showed how little he actually knew about her. Heck, the boss didn't even know about her real parentage.

"And I suggest you not think so loudly of it if you don't want others to know of it."

Sarena yelped in surprise as Slater appeared next to her. Then she glared at him. "Couldn't you give me at least a little warning before you pop up like that?!"

"Sorry," he responded. The apology sounded as insincere as one could possibly get. "Now, let's meet this girl whose mind you can't read."

Sarena's temper flared up again. "Look, mister High and Mighty, just because you're an elite psychic and I'm not doesn't make you better than me. It just means that I got passed up for promotion!"

"If that's what you have to tell yourself to sleep at night," Slater said. Sarena's purple eyes began to glow. Slater could feel her psychic energy building up but he did not do anything right away. Instead, he pointed ahead of them and said calmly, "We're here." 

Sarena let the psychic energy disperse when she saw that they were indeed at the door to the girl's medical room. With one final nasty look at Slater, she pushed the door open slowly and walked in. The girl was still lying in the hospital bed, but now she was asleep. That fact alone seemed a little strange to Sarena, considering how wide awake the other girl had been earlier. Sarena knew she hadn't been gone that long…

"What's the holdup?" Slater interrupted rudely. 

Sarena stepped out of the doorway to let him in. "Nothing," she answered. The other psychic turned his head towards her, giving her a suspicious look. Sarena knew what he was trying to do and hastily threw up a psychic barrier around her mind. "Must you be so nosy?!" she snapped.

"Why? Are you hiding something?" he asked casually. "Well, it doesn't matter to me. Just stay out of my way and let me do my work." He turned away from her and went to stand next to the bed. Sarena stuck her tongue out at him while his back was turned, then crossed her arms and leaned against the wall to watch.

Slater looked down at the girl in the bed. He certainly didn't think she was impressive. That Sarena must be a real rookie if he couldn't read this girl's mind. He reached out and placed his hand on the sleeping girl's forehead. He found that mind reading was easier if there was some physical contact and he didn't really feel like expending a lot of effort on such a trivial task as this. 

The boy's eyes began to glow red behind his glasses as he started to scan the girl's mind. Her name was Varia, she was eighteen years old, worked at the Viridian gym for a man whose name she did not know, lived at The End of the Road motel with her three fire pokemon, and…nothing. Slater was surprised by the abrupt end of information he was receiving, although his expression remained as stoic as always. His eyes glowed brighter as he pushed deeper into the girl's mind. He was astonished by how much effort this was taking. It was like…like…

Slater pulled away suddenly, his eyes dimming back to their usual dark purple. He shook his head angrily and began to walk towards the door.

"Wait!" Sarena stopped him by grabbing his arm. "What did you find out about her? What was the explosion in her mind?"

The boy gave her a scathing glance and shook her hand off. "If you must know, I found out that the girl has slight traces of psychic ability, which is why it is so difficult for us to read her mind. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to talk with the boss about this." Before Sarena could stop him, he teleported from the room. She blinked at where he had been, then sighed angrily.

"Hmph. Showoff." 

****

"Wha…Where am I? What happened to the hospital?"

__

Your body is still in the hospital. I have brought your mind to me.

"What? Hey, you're the voice I heard while I was taking care of the gym's pokemon a couple of days ago! Who are you?"

__

You and I are one in the same.

"That doesn't answer my question."

__

We were made by the same man. We were both natural things that were tampered with.

"Tampered with? What do you mean by that?"

__

Our genetic structure has been greatly altered, Varia.

"How do you know my name?"

__

I know a great many things about you, Varia. You should expect nothing less…of family.

"I don't have any family."

__

You do, but you were never informed of their existence. I am proof of that, as is—Wait, there is someone attempting to use telepathy on your body. Guard against it.

"I'm not psychic. There's no way for me to prevent someone from reading my mind."

__

You are simply unaware of the power that lies within. I shall protect your secrets for now. The psychic will not be able to read deep into your mind now.

"I don't have any secrets."

__

You have secrets from others as well as from yourself. 

"Secrets from myself?"

__

Yes. Do you wish to know them?

"Yeah. Are you going to tell me about them?"

__

I cannot tell you, as you would not believe me. I must show them to you. Are you ready to learn the truth?

"Stop talking in riddles, dammit! If you know some secret about me, tell me!"

__

Come to me.

****

"Hmph. Showoff," Sarena commented angrily. Then she turned back to her patient, only to find the injured girl now sitting up in bed. The girl's eyes were dull and empty. It almost looked like she was under some sort of hypnosis. But there was nothing here that could do that, was there? "Hey, are you okay?" she asked.

__

"STAND ASIDE!" the girl shouted in a voice that was not her own. She jumped out of the bed, threw on her torn black shirt, and started stalking towards the door. The IV was pulled from her arm as she moved from the bed, causing her arm to bleed.

"Hey! Wait!" Sarena called, but the girl seemed oblivious to her. Sarena reached out to grab the girl's arm, then pulled her hand back. If the girl was being hypnotized or possessed, it would be dangerous to awaken her or anger the pokemon that was controlling her. Instead, Sarena chose to follow the girl to wherever she was being led. 

They left the medical room and walked down several long halls. Every time they passed a Rocket, Sarena pretended like she was escorting the girl so they would remain inconspicuous. The possessed girl's speed increased and Sarena was beginning to find it hard to keep up with her long stride. Eventually, the two reached the gym, which was now closed to trainers. They crossed the arena and entered the elevator to the lower level. Sarena was happy to catch her breath while the elevator took them to their destination. 

As soon as the two metal doors opened, the possessed girl was off again. Sarena jogged after her. Realizing that they were in the pokemon storage area, she guessed one of the boss's ghost pokemon must have control of the girl. It was the only explanation, or so she thought. When they passed the three cages containing Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar, she knew something else was going on. Sarena knew something very different was going on when the girl stopped in front of a door in the back of the room. Sarena had been here several times before, but she had never been behind that door. She was surprised when it opened all by itself to let the girl in. Sarena dashed in just as it was closing. She gasped at what she saw.

It was very dark, but a figure could be seen standing on a dais in the middle of the room. The figure was wearing strange cybernetic armor with wires protruding from it. Behind it, a long, purple tail rose and curled slightly in the air. Sarena knew the thing wasn't human, but it didn't look like any pokemon she knew of. 

At that point, the girl she had been following suddenly stopped in front of the dais, shaking her head slowly. It seemed that the hypnosis she was under had worn off.

"Huh? Where am I?" she asked, still shaking off the aftereffects of the hypnosis. Sarena ducked into a small alcove in the wall and listened.

__

I have brought you to me, Varia.

The voice spoke directly into Sarena's mind. The thing in the armor must have been psychic, she guessed. 

"Okay, so what are you? What do you know about me?" the girl asked.

__

I was created from a Mew fossil discovered by some human scientists. They used the DNA to clone an even stronger copy of Mew. I am the result: Mewtwo.

"Mewtwo? Never heard of you." The girl was starting to get edgy, Sarena noticed. "Look, I really don't appreciate you bringing me down here like that, all possessed and stuff. You better tell me those secrets you were talking about, or I'm leaving."

__

If you insist. You and I could be considered siblings. The same Mew DNA was used to make both of us.

"Okay, you're wrong there. I'm not some sort of lab experiment. I'm not a Mew or a Mewtwo. I'm just a regular person. That's what I've always been and what I will always be."

__

But you are not human. I can sense it in you, a power lurking deep within. A power that may even be stronger than mine. You are human combined with Mew, the strongest pokemon.

"No, I'm not," the girl snapped. "I'm a normal person!" Sarena couldn't help but notice that the girl sounded like she was trying to convince herself as well as Mewtwo.

__

You know that is false. How else would it be possible for you to understand the language of pokemon? Not even the greatest researcher can do that.

"I…I'm not a science experiment. I'm not…"

__

You are, just as I am. But all is not lost. I offer you freedom from your dreary, meaningless life.

"I like my life!"

__

You are destined to join forces with me. Together, we would be unstoppable.

"But I don't want that! I just want to have a normal life!"

__

It is too late for that. Join me.

"No! I'm normal, you hear me?! Normal!"

Mewtwo didn't move, but Sarena could feel its psychic power building. It was getting ready to attack that girl! She had to do something, so she ran out from her hiding place screaming, "Look out!" The girl turned, surprised, to gape at Sarena. The Rocket girl ran harder as she felt Mewtwo release its attack. She hoped to knock Varia out of the way, but she was too late. A bolt of blue light hit Varia, completely engulfing her in light. Sarena screeched to a halt as the other girl screamed, grabbing the sides of her head in pain.

__

YOU ARE FAR FROM NORMAL, AS YOU SHALL SEE! Mewtwo thundered psychically. _AND I SHALL PROVE IT TO YOU! SUFFER MY WRATH, SISTER!_

Varia continued to scream as she fell to the ground. Sarena tried to attack Mewtwo physically, but it created a psychic barrier around itself, preventing her from getting at it. 

"Mewtwo, stop this now!"

Sarena looked up. On a balcony above them, her boss was glaring down at Mewtwo. The clone stopped what it was doing obediently, but it seemed angry anyway. 

The boss looked down at the pair of girls, one curled on the ground, unconscious, the other standing with a confused look on her face. "I'm afraid you've seen too much, Sarena," he said simply. Then Sarena felt something very heavy hit the back of her head. As her world went black, she thought she heard the boss say one last thing.

"Varia…" 

Author's End Note: Hope you liked it! I'll try to have the next part out sooner. It'll be the one where all the main characters finally meet each other. So stay tuned for chapter 4, and please leave a review. Nice reviews tend to make me write faster (hint, hint ^_^). 


	4. Ch. 4--The Path Less Traveled

Author's Note: Whew, I finally got this out! Sorry for it being a little late and a little short, but I had some major writer's block. Anyway, we get to see a new character, who belongs to Myuu, a guy who plays on my eGroups RPG. This is the part where the characters are all forced down the path less traveled (hence the title). Well, hope you enjoy, and sorry again for it being so short.

Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to someone who is not me, nor any of the people associated with this fic. Varia and The Reaper belong to me, all the other characters belong to their respective creators. Don't use them without permission.

Chapter 4—The Path Less Traveled

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- 

I took the one less traveled by, 

And that has made all the difference. 

--Robert Frost, _The Road Not Taken_

"Varia? Varia, are you okay?"

With a groan, the girl rolled on her side and swatted in the general direction of the voice. She had a splitting headache and just wanted to sleep.

"Hey, wake up. Come on, Varia, stay with me."

"Go 'way," she mumbled. 

"Her pulse is becoming erratic again," a different voice said. "You've got to get her to wake up more or she could slip into a coma." The voices were starting to sound fuzzy and far away, but Varia didn't care. She just wanted to sleep. She could feel her consciousness start to slip away…

"Varia!" the first voice shouted practically in her ear. Suddenly, Varia thought she recognized the voice. But it couldn't be him, he was off in Johto. She opened her eyes slightly and saw a boy leaning over her. He had gray eyes and white hair and a fresh scar running from just above his right eye to the end of his cheek.

Varia nearly jumped up at the sight of the familiar face. "Kyle!" she exclaimed as the last of the haze cleared from her mind. "Kyle, what are you doing here? Where'd you get that scar?" Then, realizing someone was holding her wrist on her other side, Varia turned her head to see who it was. It was Sarena, who was busy checking Varia's pulse.

"Okay, it's beating normally now. I think you should be okay," the younger girl said. Varia gave her a slight nod and turned back to Kyle.

"Kyle, what happened to you?" she asked again, brushing her fingers along the scar.

"I was attacked in Johto by Team Rocket," he explained simply. "They wanted me to join them, and when I refused they tossed me into this cell. I don't know what they're going to do with me now." The boy smiled, then gave Varia a concerned look. "But what happened to you?"

"I'm not really sure. I was attacked by a Tauros, ended up in a hospital, and the rest is kind of foggy. All I know now is that I've got a terrible headache." She noticed that Kyle still looked bothered by something. "What is it? Is something else wrong?"

"You mean, you don't know?" he asked. "You haven't looked in a mirror recently?"

"She just got them when Mewtwo attacked her," Sarena interjected.

"Got what? What are you talking about?" Varia asked, slightly annoyed.

"Put your hand on top of your head," Kyle instructed. "You'll know then."

Varia gave him a questioning glance, but did as she was told. She placed her hand on top of her head and was surprised to find something new there, two things specifically. Varia felt two soft, pointed structures on her head. She ran her fingers along them and noticed that she could feel herself touch them, as if they were part of her body. Then she realized what they were—ears. She had two catlike ears on top of her head. Varia's expression turned to one of horror. She tried to stand up but tripped over something wrapped around her legs. She looked down and saw that it was a long, thin pink tail. Her tail. 

"Oh my god…" she choked out.

"Mewtwo somehow changed you physically," Sarena stated. "I think those are Mew ears and a Mew tail."

Varia didn't answer right away. She was trying to keep her hands from shaking so much. The girl could feel the panic starting to rise up in her gut. She began to ramble, "Oh my god, this can't be happening. I can't really have these ears and tail. I just wanted to be normal, have a normal life working at the gym. Oh god, what's my boss going to say? What's he going to do?! What if…What if he fires me?! I can't go back to living on the streets again! I just can't!" Her voice rose hysterically as she babbled in fear and confusion.

"Varia, get a hold of yourself!" Kyle shouted. The girl tried to stop raving, so she took several deep breaths to calm herself. She looked up into Kyle's gray eyes and felt a little more at ease. 

"Okay, now that that's settled, how about worrying about our present location?" Sarena asked pointedly. Varia looked around for the first time and realized that they were in some sort of prison cell. Sarena noticed the other girl's confusion and explained, "Apparently you and I weren't supposed to meet up with that Mewtwo thing. The boss found us, had someone knock me out, then tossed us down here: the holding cells for research specimens. Your friend was here when I woke up." She indicated Kyle, who was giving her a shocked look.

"What do you mean by 'research specimens'?" he asked.

"What I mean is, we're going to be poked and prodded by scientists until we either die or become useless to them. You see, Team Rocket doesn't have any qualms about experimenting on human beings."

"Team Rocket?!" Varia exclaimed in horror. "They're that evil gang! How'd they get us?"

Sarena rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on! Don't you know that your boss, the Viridian gym leader, is the head of Team Rocket?" At Varia's silence and downcast eyes, Sarena understood. "So, you never knew, did you?"

"I—I just wanted a steady job so I wouldn't have to live on the streets anymore," Varia answered tearfully. Then she turned to Kyle. "You were right. I should've found out more about who I was working for. God, I can't believe I never even knew his name!"

"Look, I hate to break up this little moment you two are having, but we've got to figure out how to escape before we end put strapped down to a lab table," Sarena stated. Then she walked over to the cell door and crouched in front of the lock, examining it.

"Are you going to pick the lock?" Varia asked.

"Even if I did have the right tools for the job, I don't think I could do it. I never really learned how," she explained. Then she stood up and turned to the other two prisoners. "Why don't you try something?" she said to Varia.

"Me? What can I do?"

"Mewtwo said you had special powers. Why don't you use them?"

Varia's eyes widened at the mention of Mewtwo. "No, he was wrong. I don't have any special powers. He must've been crazy, anyway, saying that I was related to him."

"Then what about the ears and tail?" Sarena asked pointedly. "He used a psychic attack on you, but there's no way it could've just _created_ those if you didn't already have the DNA for it."

Now Varia looked angry. Her Mew-ears flattened against the top of her head and her tail lashed angrily. "I'm not a freak, dammit! I'm not part pokemon, nor have I ever been! I'm just a regular person like you!"

Kyle, who had been silent up until then, finally chose to speak. "Varia," he said quietly, "I think you know that's not true. You told me that you've worked here for six years. The man you work for is the very man who controls Team Rocket. Don't you think it's possible he could have done something to you during those six years? He may have even brainwashed you so you'd forget about it."

Varia's eyebrows rose. "You think he'd do something like that?"

"I don't doubt it after what happened to me. They don't care who they hurt, so long as they get what the want. I'm afraid that you were just another one of their casualties."

"Yeah, like we're all gonna be if you don't hurry up and use some kinda Mew power to break us out," Sarena added.

"You ain't goin' nowhere."

The three prisoners spun around to see four black-uniformed Rockets standing outside the cell. One unlocked the door and the Rockets moved threateningly towards them. Varia shrank back, but Sarena and Kyle stood up straighter, as if ready to fight. They probably would have attacked, too, if three of the Rockets hadn't pulled out guns and aimed them at the prisoners.

"The boss wants 'em taken to the lab. They're doin' that big experiment today," one of the Rockets said, motioning for the other three to move forward. They did as they were told, each one stopping in front of one of the prisoners. The guards shoved the guns against Kyle, Sarena, and Varia's backs, pushing them out of the cell.

"Wait, wait," the unarmed Rocket said suddenly. He pointed to Varia. "The boss don't want her in the experiment. Leave her here."

Varia's guard grunted a reply and jostled her back farther in the cell. Kyle and Sarena were still led out. As soon as they were out, the unarmed Rocket slammed the cell door and locked it again. The noise made Varia snap out of her fear-inspired trance and she ran to the bars of the cell.

"No! You can't just leave me here! Kyle!" she cried. The girl reached through the bars to her friend, but was rudely knocked back by one of the guards. She fell into a heap on the floor, watching with tearful eyes as Kyle and Sarena were escorted to the genetics lab. Varia feared that it would probably be the last place they ever saw.

****

Reaper was bored. The boss hadn't sent him a victim in over twelve hours. He had nothing to do, and that was what made him dangerous. If he wasn't sent a victim soon, he'd have to find one himself. Generally, it was some random Rocket that just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Reaper had gotten in trouble for his addiction to inflicting pain, but never anything serious. He was far too valuable to the boss to be kicked out of Team Rocket.

Reaper sighed and flung a knife across the room. It landed directly in the center of a target hanging on the opposite wall. He didn't have any pokemon left to torment. He had been hoping for a whole new shipment of Rattata and Raticate, but the scientists down in the genetics lab had gotten priority over him. 

Suddenly, he stood up and marched out the door of his torture chamber. "Screw this," he growled. "I'm tired of just sitting around." He turned down the hall and headed for the prison cells. He knew there was one person down there who could keep him entertained. A person he had tortured long ago, and still enjoyed torturing even now.

It took only a few minutes to reach the cells. When he got there, Reaper strode past the guards, who recoiled slightly at his approach, and walked to the very last cell in the first row. He grinned and peered through the bars at the cell's occupant. He was a boy about the age of fifteen, with white hair that fell to the top of his shoulder blades. Though his head was down-turned, Reaper knew that the boy's eyes were icy blue. He was wearing a long-sleeved black shirt with ice blue fire down the sleeves, a gray vest, and black jeans. His strangest attribute, though, were his large, Dragonite-like wings and the blades that jutted out from his forearms. The boy was crouched on the floor, trying to cover himself with his wings.

"Ah, Jason Erevan, the reluctant Rocket," Reaper said. "Looks like those scientists really had fun with you."

The boy looked up at the sound of the voice, his icy eyes cold with hatred. Reaper smiled at the sight of a jagged, lightning bolt-shaped scar cutting down from the boy's right eyebrow, through his eye, and to the bottom of his face. Reaper had been the one to give him that scar.

"What do you want?" the boy asked harshly.

"I just wanted to say hi to an old friend," he answered. "I was thinking about all the fun times we used to have together. You remember them, don't you, Angel?" He addressed him by his nickname. It was a name Jason had earned because of his kinder nature. The boy had been kidnapped by Team Rocket and forced to serve them or die. In the beginning, he had tried to escape, but Reaper put a stop to that.

"Leave," Angel said bluntly.

Reaper gave him a look of mock hurt. "Leave? Is that any way to speak to an old friend?"

"You are _not_ my friend."

"Of course not," Reaper laughed. "Who ever heard of an angel and a devil being friends? But that is beside the point. You see, I haven't had any victims for quite some time and I was getting bored, but then I remembered you. How about if we take a little trip over to my room and play with my electric chair? I hear your pokemon DNA is really weak against electricity…"

At this, Angel jumped up and ran at the bars. Reaper took a calm step back out of the other boy's reach. "You bastard! I've had enough of you tortures!"

Reaper crossed his arms over his chest. "There's no such thing as enough torture. Now calm down so I can unlock the cell door. We're taking a field trip."

"You take one step towards this cell and I'll cut your goddamn face off!" Angel snarled.

Reaper was about to reply when a man in a white lab coat walked up to him. He sneered at the interruption and turned to the newcomer. "What? Can't you see I'm busy here?"

"Mr. Grim Richards?" the man asked.

Reaper's eyes narrowed. "No one calls me that. _No one_." His hand strayed to the hunting knife he always carried.

"You have been randomly selected to participate in our latest scientific venture. Please do not struggle," the man said calmly. Reaper paused, puzzled at the remark, and that moment of hesitation was all it took. The sadist felt a pinprick in his neck. He spun around and saw another scientist standing behind him holding an empty syringe. Reaper started to move forward aggressively, but then his vision started swirling. His legs buckled and he collapsed to the floor and fell unconscious.

"Finally," the first scientist said. "Finally we get to operate on this guy. Maybe he'll die during the experiment."

"We can only hope," the other said. "Now help me get him down to the lab."

As the two scientists dragged Reaper away, Angel couldn't help but smile. "He won't die, he's too strong, but he may want to after what they do to him."

Author's End Note: Another cliffhanger?! Man, I'm horrible. ^_^ I'll try to make the next part longer and get it posted sooner and put all the characters in it (Wind, I'm sorry I keep neglecting Lani!)


	5. Ch. 5--Hope of Escape

Author's Note: Finally! Sorry, but we picked up a virus that wouldn't let me log on to the Internet. So, without further delay, here's the next chapter! 

Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon, so don't sue. I do own Varia and Reaper, and all other characters belong to their respective creators. Please ask before using them.

Chapter 5—Hope of Escape

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- 

I took the one less traveled by, 

And that has made all the difference. 

--Robert Frost, _The Road Not Taken_

Varia sat huddled in the back of the cell. Her entire body was shaking uncontrollably, though she was not cold in the least. In fact, she was terrified of her present situation. Varia had never been alone in her whole life. She had always had at least one pokemon companion to talk to.

"I'm going to die," she mumbled to herself over and over. "I'm going to die. I'm going to—huh?"

The girl stopped her frightened chanting as two Rocket guards and a scientist walked up to her cell. They were escorting two girls. Something seemed odd about the girls, but Varia couldn't see well enough in the dimly-lit prison to identify what seemed so different about them. 

"Experiments 0202 and 0203 were successful," the scientist was saying. "Put them in here with the Mew girl. The boss will be down to check on these final products when he finishes his gym battles for the day." The scientist unlocked the cell door and the two girls were pushed in, the shorter one stumbling and falling to her knees. The taller girl quickly went to her side to see if she was all right. The Rockets just laughed at the display and walked off. 

Varia waited until the guards were gone to move slowly towards her new cellmates. When she was fairly close, she realized what was so strange about these two: they seemed to be part pokemon. The tall girl had the coloring of a Raichu, with the stripes on her upper arms, and a Raichu tail. The smaller girl looked to be part Vaporeon. Her skin appeared to be tinted blue and shimmer slightly. She also had three fins, two where her ears should be and one on top of her head, just like a Vaporeon. 

"What happened to you?" Varia asked in wonder. The tall girl looked up at her, her gold eyes glittering dangerously. Varia instinctively took a step back.

"You better not try anything smart! Just leave Emery alone!" she snapped.

"I don't want to hurt her," Varia said quietly. "I just wanted to know why you guys look the way you do. Besides, we're all in the same boat now. We're all prisoners of Team Rocket."

The tall girl paused to think about that statement. Then she nodded. "You're right. Sorry I yelled at you. But after the stuff they did to us in that lab, I'm a little on edge. I mean, look at us! They messed with our genes! We're freaks!"

Varia winced slightly at the word "freaks" but the other two didn't notice. "Are they going to do the same thing to Kyle and Sarena?"

"Not that I know who they are, but I'd say there's a pretty good chance." Suddenly, the girl extended her hand, grinning. "I'm Indigo, by the way. And this is Emery."

"Hi," Emery said quietly.

"I'm Varia," she said, sitting down with the other two.

"Nice ears," Indigo commented. "I take it you got dragged to the lab as well?"

"Um…no, not exactly," Varia answered. "There was this…this pokemon guy, I guess, that thought I was its sister or something. It didn't want me to have a normal life, so it made me look like this so I would join up with it."

Emery looked at Varia. "We have to leave this place."

Varia blinked, surprised by the statement. "What makes you say that? I mean, besides the obvious reasons?"

Emery looked over her shoulder nervously. "There's a monster here. This boy who calls himself The Reaper. He might come back for any one of us. We have to leave before that happens."

"The Reaper?" Varia questioned.

"Yeah, this really scary guy," Indigo explained. She pointed to the long scar on Emery's arm, which made Varia gasp at the sight. "He gave her that. I met him when he came down here and grilled Emery about the slave trade in the Orange Islands. Seemed pretty psycho to me, and if he ever comes near us again, I'm going to rip his black heart out," she growled dangerously, looking extremely serious.

Varia wrapped her arms around herself to prevent from shivering again. This place was terrible. Emery was right about getting out, but how could they do that? And how would they find Kyle and Sarena? She certainly wasn't about to leave those two behind. 

"We _do_ have to leave, but how do we do that? There's bound to be guards all over the place," Varia stated. "And besides, we don't even have the keys to the cell."

"Oh, no?" Indigo asked with a grin. Then she turned to Emery. "I think my friend would beg to differ with you."

Emery smiled and reached into the pocket of her jeans. She pulled out a key ring with several keys attached to it. "A gift from that scientist."

Varia could do nothing but gawk. "How…?"

"You don't spend your life as a slave without learning a few tricks to escape," she said proudly. "I just slipped them out of his pocket when he pushed me in here."

Varia nearly hugged her in delight but managed to restrain herself. "That's wonderful!" she said in an excited whisper. She had completely forgotten about guards when the prospect of escape was inserted into the equation. "Quick, let's get outta this cell and find my friends. Then we can make a run for it. Sound good?"

"Definitely," Indigo agreed. Emery nodded and stood up. She walked over to the cell door and tried different keys in the lock. The fifth key she tried successfully opened the lock and she pushed the door open slowly to prevent it from creaking. Indigo and Varia walked out after her and shut the door behind them. If anyone happened to glance down the hall and see the open door, it could set off an alarm before they had escaped.

"How are we going to find Kyle and Sarena?" Varia asked.

"They probably took them to the lab. Come on, we can lead you there," Indigo told her. As they started off down the hall, she added, "But we might have to do some fighting. You think you can handle it?"

"I hope so," Varia answered quietly.

****

Angel sat hunched in one corner of his cell as he usually did. He kept himself hidden in the shadows as much as he could. He hated what those scientists had done to him, and he hated Team Rocket even more for allowing it to happen. However, Angel was still forced to work for them. If he refused, he would be dragged off to The Reaper's dungeon. He hated Reaper even more than he hated Team Rocket. That sick, twisted maniac had tortured Angel to within an inch of his life on several occasions. The pain itself was bad enough, but the way The Reaper enjoyed it was worse than the pain. Angel hated seeing anyone hurt and he loathed The Reaper's delight in sadism. That boy was the most unholy creature on the face of the earth. 

Angel's dark thoughts were interrupted when a scientist appeared in front of the cell door. The man unlocked it, but Angel made no move to escape. He just watched as a young girl was brought into the cell. She was still unconscious from whatever they had done to her. The scientist placed her carefully on the cold floor of the cell then left, locking the door after him. 

After he was sure the girl was asleep, Angel moved forward to see what they had done to her. She had been a genetic experiment, just like himself, except she had been blended with a Persian. She had a feline tail that was twitching ever so slightly. There were also rounded ears top of her head, each decorated with a large pink earring. Cat's claws now tipped her fingers and had torn through her black gloves. Suddenly, she groaned and turned. Angel backed away from her and returned to the shadows as she woke up. The girl pushed herself into a sitting position.

"Oh, man, what happened? I've got the biggest headache," she muttered and put a hand to her head. Her eyes widened when she felt her new ears. She noticed the claws and tail soon after. "Whoa. Those are new…"

"You've been genetically altered," Angel said quietly. It was mostly to himself, but the girl's feline ears picked up the sound easily. She turned to look at him, her green eyes wide. Angel pulled his wings around himself subconsciously. 

"Who are you?" the girl asked.

"Jason Erevan," he answered. "Most people call me Angel, though."

"Angel?" she repeated, trying to remember why that sounded familiar. "Oh, I know you! They call you the Angel of Team Rocket! You're that nice guy they drafted a while back, aren't you?"

Angel looked surprised. "You know me?"

The girl grinned. "Of course! Everyone knows about you. I hear they had to stop sending you out on certain missions because you refused to hurt anyone. Anyway, my name's Lani," she said, extending one hand. Angel looked at it for a moment, then reached out and shook it. Lani noticed the blades on his arm. "Hey, where'd you get those? And what's with the wings?"

"Genetic experimentation," he explained. "These are Dragonite wings and the blades are from steel pokemon DNA."

"Wow. And it looks like I'm part Persian," she said quietly, as if coming to terms with what had happened to her. Then she jumped up and squealed with delight. "This is so _cool_! I can't believe I'm a cat girl! This is great!"

Angel gazed at her in horror. "You _like_ having your very DNA tampered with?"

"It doesn't bother me. I mean, they made me totally cool!" Lani practiced swishing her tail. As the new appendage moved, she grinned with delight. Then she turned to Angel. "Don't you like your wings? I mean, now you can fly. That's got to be fun."

He dropped his gaze to the floor. "I hate them. I can't stand what they've done to me." He raised his ice blue eyes to meet her lively green ones. "I've never flown because I couldn't bear to go outside where other people could see me."

Lani immediately stopped fooling around with her tail and became serious. "I'm so sorry, Angel. I didn't know you felt that way. Maybe those scientists will change you back if you ask nicely," she suggested.

Angel sighed. "I doubt it. Nothing could repair the damage that's already been done."

****

Indigo, Emery, and Varia somehow managed to reach the lab without being spotted by any guards. They slipped into the women's locker room to decide their next move.

"Okay, we're here. Now let's go save my friends!" Varia said.

"It's not that simple," Emery returned. "The genetics lab is one of the most heavily guarded labs in this place. We'll have to get a key card from one of the scientists who works in that area."

Varia groaned and plopped down on a bench. "Great. This is just impossible." Suddenly, she looked up and found Indigo standing right in front of her, her arms folded across her chest.

"You give up too easily, you know that?" she said sternly. "Listen, of course it's going to be impossible if we don't at least _try_. Now, you can sit here feeling all sorry for yourself, or you can get up off your butt and start looking for a key card with us."

Varia was surprised by the girl's harsh tone, so she didn't react immediately. After a brief pause, she stood up and faced Indigo. "Okay, I'll help, but only if you promise not to do anymore pep talks."

Indigo blinked, then smiled. "You got it. Now let's go!" Then she added, "Was the pep talk really that bad?"

"I'm surprised you didn't say something like 'Impossible is a misprint, little lady. It's really I'm possible,'" Varia said with a slight smile.

"Hey, it's not like I do this very often!" Indigo countered. "I've never coached a team or anything like that!"

"And there's no I in team."

"Stop picking on me!" Indigo exclaimed, though it was obvious she was only pretending to be insulted. 

"Um, guys?" Emery interrupted tentatively. "Don't you think we should be going now?"

Varia and Indigo stopped their verbal battle and turned to the other girl. 

"Um, yeah, we should start looking for a card key," Indigo agreed. The other two nodded and started walking out the door. Just as Varia pulled on the handle, a lady stepped into the locker room. A lady dressed in a white lab coat.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she started to say, then she glanced up and saw who she was talking to. Her eyes grew wide and she gasped. "You're…You're…" She was abruptly silenced by a right hook to her jaw, courtesy of Indigo. The woman fell, knocked completely unconscious. Varia and Emery just gawked at their companion.

"You hit her!" Varia exclaimed.

"I know," Indigo answered, rubbing her sore knuckles. "It really hurt."

"I can't believe you did that!"

Indigo shrugged, her usual grin returning. "I'm just full of surprises. Anyway, we're lucky. This lady was from the genetics lab. That's why she recognized us." Indigo knelt down and went though the woman's pockets until she pulled a card out of one of them. "Jackpot!" Then she nearly broke out into a run down the hall. Emery and Varia ran after her, trying to catch up.

"Did you see that?! She _hit_ that lady!" Varia said to Emery, her voice rising shrilly.

"I know. She's like that. You'll get used to it," Emery answered. She couldn't help but smile at Varia's shocked look.

"I can't believe she did that!"

The three raced down several halls, ducking from various scientists and guards and using the key card to get past the security doors. After what seemed like an eternity, they reached the last door, the door that stood between them and the genetics lab.

"Okay, let's save your friends and get the hell outta here," Indigo declared, swiping the card through the electronic lock. After a few seconds of processing, it beeped and the door unlocked. Indigo pushed it open…and found herself face-to-face with about ten scientists.

"It's experiment 0202!" one of them shouted.

"Oh crap," was all Indigo had time to say before the scientists ran at her. 

Almost too fast to see, the Raichu girl dropped to the ground, then kicked out one leg, tripping the scientists in the lead. As they fell to the floor, several of the others tripped over them. With a majority of the scientists sprawled on the floor, Indigo jumped up and ran past them. She shouted for Emery and Varia to find Kyle and Sarena quickly.

"Right!" Emery called back, running into the lab. She grabbed Varia's arm, pulling her along. "Varia, this is no time to stand around!"

"But…She just hit all those people!"

"Not now!" Emery shouted at the Mew girl. "Now help me find your friends."

Varia nodded slightly, trying to ignore the sounds of fighting behind her. She gazed around the dark lab, looking for any sign of her friends. Varia thought she saw a human outline strapped to a table a little ways away and was about to say so when a scientist loomed up in front of her. She shrieked as a wayward scientist charged at her, but Emery suddenly appeared and punched the man in the stomach. As he dropped to his knees, trying to regain his breath, Emery kicked him in the head, sending him skidding across the floor. She turned back to Varia and noticed the other girl looking at her in stunned disbelief.

"You just—"

"Yes, I hit that guy, I know! We can discuss the negative points of violence later, just find Kyle and Sarena!"

With a small yelp at the other girl's outburst, Varia spun around and pointed to a far part of the lab. "Over there! I think that's them!" Without waiting for a response from Emery, she ran over to the operating table she had spotted. Sure enough, Kyle was strapped to it. Something about him looked different, but Varia didn't have time to figure out what it was. She tugged the straps off his arms and legs, then shook his head gently.

"Kyle? Kyle, can you hear me?" she asked worriedly. He didn't answer right away. Finally, he moaned and opened his eyes. Varia breathed a sigh of relief and hugged him. "Kyle, you're alive!"

"Yeah, but what's going on?" he asked groggily.

"I'll explain later. Right now, we have to find Sarena."

"I've got her!" Emery shouted. Varia turned and saw the slave girl with Sarena, the latter's arm draped around the former's neck to help her walk. Varia's eyes nearly popped out of her skull when she saw what the scientists had done to Sarena. The girl had two huge, feathered blue wings, as well as a long-feathered tail and a blue crest on her forehead. 

Varia was about to comment on it when someone collided into her. She staggered back and realized that it was Indigo. One of the scientists had knocked her back. Indigo stood up shakily and, though she was obviously hurting, positioned herself defensively in front of the other four.

"Give it up, 0202," one of the scientists said, wiping blood from his lip. "We've got all of you trapped. Just give up peacefully and we will go easy on you."

"Never," she hissed defiantly.

The scientist shrugged casually. "Your loss." He and the others started to move forward. Varia shrank back, her Mew ears flat against her head. 

"You haven't won yet!" Sarena suddenly exclaimed. The scientists paused at her declaration and the girl's eyes glowed brightly. She shouted, "Teleportation!" and she, Emery, Indigo, Kyle, and Varia were surrounded with a blue glow and disappeared.

****

He could hear several voices around him. Each was talking so quietly and he couldn't make out what was being said. He strained to hear what was being said.

"His pulse is steady. Breathing normal."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. It looks as though he will pull through."

"You've got to be joking! No one else has survived this experiment! He should be dead!"

"No such luck. He appears to be doing just fine."

"Damn! The only reason we chose him for this was because he was supposed to die. Well, perhaps there could be some post-op complications…"

The listener remained still, not wanting to give himself away. He waited until he felt a cold shaft of metal touch his stomach, then lashed out. His eyes flared open and he grabbed the scientist by the throat. The scientist was so surprised that he dropped his scalpel, which the listener quickly snatched up. Then the listener squeezed the scientist's throat, crushing his windpipe with surprising ease. 

As the body dropped, he heard the screams of others. He saw three others trying to flee from the room. With an inhuman snarl, he leapt off the table. He tackled the first scientist from behind, then flung the scalpel at the second. It nailed the scientist right in the back of her neck, releasing a spray of blood as she fell. The third was just turning the door handle when the listener caught him by the arm, twisting the limb behind the scientist. It cracked loudly as the bone broke, which was quickly followed by the snap of the scientist's neck as the listener spun the head all the way around. As that body slumped against the door, the listener slowly turned back to the first scientist.

The man looked terrified. "Now, listen to me, Grim…"

"NO ONE CALLS ME THAT!" Reaper roared. He grabbed the man by the front of his lab coat and sliced his throat cleanly with his black claws.

Black claws? Reaper looked down at his hands and realized that they were now more like paws, each finger tipped with a lethal black claw. After the initial surprise wore off, Reaper smiled, exposing large fangs and pointed teeth. He began to laugh, quietly at first, then escalating to a maniacal cackle.

And those who heard it would have nightmares about it for the rest of their lives.

Author's End Note: Oooh, scary! What has Reaper become? Feel free to guess if you want. And don't forget to R/R!


	6. Ch. 6--Fallen Angel

Author's Note: Woo-hoo! I actually got this chapter out on time! Personally, I really like this part, mainly because there's a lot of evilness in it as it focuses on our villains. Why? Because I didn't really feel like writing Varia and company's part just yet. I was in an evil mood this week. Bwahahahahaha!!! Anyway, the chapter is titled as such because it explains a little of why such a nice guy like Angel works for such a bad group as Team Rocket. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Long Live The Reaper!

Disclaimer: Pokemon does not belong to me. I'm just sorta borrowing the concept. Varia and Reaper are mine and all other characters belong to their respective creators.

Chapter 6—Fallen Angel

Giovanni leveled the scientist before him with an icy glare. Even though the scientist could barely see his boss's face, he knew just how angry he was.

"Let me see if I heard you right," Giovanni was saying. "You locked up experiments 0202 and 0203 with Varia, whom I _specifically_ told you was to be imprisoned alone, and they escaped from a locked cell. Then, to add insult to injury, they snuck into the lab area, broke into the supposedly high-security genetics department, beat up TEN scientists, rescued experiments 0204 and 0205, and somehow teleported from the lab. Is that right?"

"Y-yes, sir," the scientist affirmed meekly.

Giovanni's expression remained stoic as always. He extended one hand. "Give me the files on those experiments," he ordered. The scientist did as he was told, handing over several file folders. Giovanni silently flipped through them. Then he looked back up at the man standing nervously before him. "This project was obviously too much for you to handle. I will no longer be in need of your services." With that, he snapped his fingers. The scientist barely had time to cry out when the boss's Persian leapt out at him, biting and clawing until the man was reduced to nothing more than a mass of blood and flesh. When it was sure the scientist was dead, the feline pokemon strutted back over to its master. Giovanni smirked and stroked the Persian's head for a job well done.

With a push of a button on his desk, the leader of Team Rocket summoned a clean-up crew to remove the body from his office. As soon as that was done, he called out to his secretary and had her send in two operatives for a new mission. It only took a few moments before he heard the knock on his door.

"Come in," he said. The large doors to his office were pushed open by the two specific Rockets he had summoned. He welcomed them, "Ah, Lani and Slater. I've been expecting you." He noted the new ears and tail on Lani, who seemed pretty happy with them. Then he looked to Slater. The boy was dressed in his usual black jumpsuit, but he looked different. His hair spiked out to the sides now and his arms had apparently disappeared. His disembodied hands floated next to his sides. Giovanni said, "I don't recall ordering any genetic experimenting on you, Slater."

"You didn't," the psychic answered. "I found out that it was possible to get DNA from a ghost pokemon from one of the prisoners. I then volunteered to be blended with a Haunter."

"And why did you do that?" Giovanni asked.

"This way, I am no longer weak against other psychics, sir," the boy answered.

Giovanni shrugged. "Very well. But right now I have an important mission for you two." He pushed the files across his desk to them and they were retrieved by Lani. "Today, we had several research specimens escape from our genetics lab. You can get all the information on them you need from those files, as well as this one," the boss told them as he reached into one of his file cabinets. He pulled out another file and handed it to Lani. She glanced at it, slightly surprised.

"Hey, this is a file for a gym employee," she commented.

"Yes, the gym's pokemon caretaker accidentally ran across one of the products of our pokemon cloning experiments. She was then considered to be a liability and we had to confine her. Strangely, she seems to have acquired the ears and tail of a Mew because of the confrontation she had. The scientists tell me that this could mean she has the powers of that pokemon. She is the only one that _must_ be brought back alive. Try to get the others, but they are expendable if the circumstances call for it. Do you understand your mission?" Giovanni asked.

"Yes, sir!" the two Rockets answered in unison.

"We'll bring 'em all back," Lani assured her boss. "You can count on—"

She was abruptly cut off as the doors to the office were nearly knocked off their hinges as another figure burst in. All three occupants of the room turned to see who it was. It was obvious that the person was not completely human. He was walking on the balls of his feet, which were dog-like paws with black claws. His hands were also paw-like and had the same black claws. A barbed tail swung slowly behind him and he had two backward-curving horns on his head. His ears were slightly pointed and he had two fangs sticking out from under his upper lip. The person's eyes, however, were the most unnerving part of his all-around disturbing appearance. They were red with slit pupils and were glowing slightly.

Lani was the first to recognize him. "Reaper?" she ventured.

The figure grinned, showing off the rest of his pointed teeth. "That's right. Alive and well, even though those fools thought Houndoom DNA would kill me." He threw his head back and laughed. "Idiots! As if something so simple could kill The Reaper!"

Giovanni remained fairly calm at the intrusion. In fact, he looked quite pleased that The Reaper had survived being genetically mixed with a dark pokemon. 

"Reaper," he said, using the boy's nickname to get his attention, "perhaps you would like to join this mission to recover the lost research specimens?"

Reaper grinned again. "It would be my pleasure, but I must request one thing."

"What is it?"

"Let me bring the Angel of Team Rocket," he said. "I could use some entertainment during this hunt."

The boss paused to consider. Finally, he answered, "Permission granted. Go have the jailers remove him from the cell and start hunting those specimens down immediately!"

"Yes, sir," the three said, then left the room. They headed down to the prison area where Angel would be. Lani browsed through the files she had been given, unaware of the venomous glances Reaper and Slater were giving each other.

"Why the hell did you have to agree to join our mission?" Slater asked harshly.

Reaper smiled nastily back at him. "What, you can't read my mind? Oh, that's right! Dark pokemon are immune to you goddamn psychics." He straightened up to his full six-foot-six height. "It appears that the balance of power has shifted, doesn't it?"

Slater glared at him. "You're nothing more than a dungeon keeper. You'll never be anything more."

Reaper's cocky smile faded, replaced by a look of pure hatred. "Do _not_ talk down to me, psychic. Ever. I will not hesitate to strike you down where you stand."

"You wouldn't dare," Slater challenged. "The boss would have you fired in a heartbeat."

"Would you like to put that to the test?" Reaper growled dangerously.

"Now, now, boys," Lani interrupted. "Let's not get violent. Slater, you stop being so high and mighty, and Reaper, you stop threatening everyone's life, okay?" she lectured each boy in turn. "We all have to work together on this mission, so you have to get along."

"Since when did you become the leader?" Slater snapped at her.

Reaper laughed sardonically and put his hands behind his head as he walked. "Aww, you don't like being told what to do by a woman?" He paused, watching Slater's normally stoic expression turn to one of anger. "I'm surprised a psychic like you can't tell what she's doing."

"And what would that be?" the other boy huffed. Lani looked at Reaper as well, interested in what he would say.

"She's put herself in charge to avoid more conflicts. If either you or I were leading this mission, there would be a constant rivalry. She's put us both on the same level by elevating herself above us both," he explained. Reaper looked at Lani out of the corner of his eye. "Isn't that right, Lani?"

"Er…Yeah, I guess it is," she answered hesitantly. The girl was surprised by how perceptive The Reaper actually was. Slater did not respond. He simply resumed his indifferent countenance and refused to look at Reaper. 

They reached the elevator to the lower levels and rode it down to the prison floor. When they reached it, the group walked to the cell Angel was kept in. Reaper produced a key and unlocked the door. Grinning insanely, he pulled the bars open and stepped into the cell. Angel looked up at his entrance but made no other move to acknowledge him. He didn't even show surprise at Reaper's altered appearance.

"Up and at 'em, Angel," Reaper jeered. "You've been selected to join our mission."

"What mission is that?" he asked quietly.

"We're hunting down some escaped science experiments. You're coming with us."

"No," Angel said bluntly. 

Reaper raised one eyebrow. "You know the boss doesn't like it when you refuse missions, Jason. Now move it."

Angel suddenly stood up, glaring daggers at Reaper. "I said no, dammit! I'm not going to be Team Rocket's puppet anymore!"

To everyone's surprise, Reaper just shrugged. "If that's what you want, fine. You're free to go anytime." He stepped aside, leaving the exit wide open. "Go ahead. Leave."

Angel watched Reaper warily, wondering if it was some sort of trick. He took a step forward and Reaper made no move to stop him. Angel took another stride, then another. Still no motion from Reaper. With a final glance at the other two Rockets to make sure they weren't going to try anything, Angel walked out of the cell and started off down the hall, no one stopping him…almost.

"Tell me, Angel, does the Pokemon League let freaks compete nowadays?" Reaper's voice echoed after him. 

Angel stopped dead in his tracks. It was true, he was a freak now. His wings and arm blades weren't easily hidden from view no matter what he did. He slowly turned back to the group of three. Slater remained expressionless, Lani appeared mildly surprised, and Reaper bore the smirk of satisfaction.

"You know you won't be accepted by anyone other than Team Rocket," the tall boy stated. It was bad enough to hear Reaper say that, but it was worse knowing that it was true. Angel had no choice but to join their mission. His eyes downcast, he walked back to them silently.

"Let's just get this over with," he muttered.

After an uncomfortable pause, Lani said, "Um, okay…I'll lead the way outta here." She started off down the hall, the three boys following her. She didn't have to turn around to know that they were walking behind her. She could hear their individual footsteps with her keen Persian hearing, although she couldn't help but glance over her shoulder at Reaper, who was towering over the other two. His red eyes were fixed on Angel with a look of pure dominance. It was the same look a person would give to a well-trained Growlithe. It was most disturbing how much delight Reaper was getting out of the mental torture Angel must have been going through at the time. 

That wasn't all Lani was worried about, though. Ever since she had joined Team Rocket, she had known about The Reaper and his chamber of horrors. That was the impression she had of him: a mindless fiend that thrived in the pain of others. But he had known exactly what she had been trying to do when she proclaimed herself the leader of the group. What was more, he did not challenge her position. He had accepted it to prevent a major conflict from exploding between him and Slater. Obviously, The Reaper was a lot more intelligent than he let on.

And that was more unsettling than his love of suffering.

****

The Saffron gym had been pretty quiet for the day. No one had come in to battle with Sabrina, and nothing monumental had happened in the telekinesis training classes. Sabrina was just about to lock down the gym and head for home when she felt a sudden burst of psychic energy from the direction of the battle arena. 

"What was that?" she wondered out loud. Her pet Haunter shrugged as best he could without shoulders. "Perhaps we should go see." With a nod of agreement from the ghost pokemon, Sabrina walked down the hall to the arena. When she arrived, she couldn't hide the surprised expression on her face.

Five people were all sprawled out on the floor in a big heap. They were trying to separate themselves from each other, each grumbling or yelling at one of the others. Sabrina was shocked to see that, when they had finally untangled themselves, they all seemed to have pokemon attributes. The gym leader's eyes came to rest on the girl with Articuno wings and tail feathers. 

"Sarena?" she questioned.

Sarena looked up quickly at the sound of her name. Then she blushed slightly and answered, "Hi, mom. Long time, no see, huh?"

Author's End Note: Hey, it's not a cliffhanger! Well, it _kinda_ is, but not as bad as the other ones, I think. Man, it's scary how much I like writing Reaper's parts. He's just such a wonderful villain! He really is a soulless bastard, but I still love 'em anyway! Review please! Hell, even if you aren't in the story but you're reading it, I'd appreciate a review. If you do and you've got a character for the story, I might just put them in! (There's a pretty good chance *hint hint*.)

Also on the Writing Frontier for Me: Hey, all you people who created characters for this story (and you know who you are), this is important for you! I'm going to be doing a vignette (that's French for…hell, I don't know) for each character in The End of the Road. It's going to be a short story about their lives before the events of this story, and the mini-series is going to be called The Beginning of the Road (get it?!). I'm doing the characters alphabetically, so Emery's going first. I've already got the information I need from her, so it should be out shortly. I'll send an e-mail to each of you other people in turn and ask about your character's background, so be ready for it. Oh, and just to irritate you Reaper fans (I know Wind's one!), I already wrote his vignette, but I'm not posting it until we get to R! Bwahahahahaha!! Now you see where Reaper gets his sadistic side…


	7. Ch. 7--Sarena's Sanctuary

Author's Notes: I know, I know. This part is short _and_ there's no Reaper in it, but I wanted to get it out on time. This is also a "good guy" chapter, so the next will be an exclusive bad guy chapter, so Reaper will be back shortly. I've already got a majority of that chapter written out (in my head, that is), so it shouldn't be too long. Also, thanks for all the great reviews on Emery's vignette! You guys are the best!

Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon, so don't sue. If I did own pokemon, you can bet that Reaper would be in the TV show. Speaking of which, I own both The Reaper and Varia, so please don't use them without permission. All the other characters belong to their respective creators, so ask first.

Chapter 7—Sarena's Sanctuary

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- 

I took the one less traveled by, 

And that has made all the difference. 

--Robert Frost, _The Road Not Taken_

Sabrina could not believe her eyes. Her daughter, now sporting wings and tail feathers, stood before her along with a small menagerie of other pokemon-attributed people.

"Sarena, what are you doing here?" she asked. 

"Well, you see, it's…it's…" Sarena mumbled, then suddenly fell backwards. Kyle managed to catch her before she hit the ground. The girl groaned. "Man, I feel sick," she commented.

"It must have been the teleportation," Sabrina mused. "Bringing all these people with you has almost completely exhausted your energy. Come on, I can show you where she can rest for a while," the gym leader said to Kyle, indicating that he should follow her. Kyle did so, picking up the barely-conscious Sarena and carrying her in his arms. The girl's wingtips and tail feathers dragged along the ground.

Having no other choice, Varia, Emery, and Indigo walked after Sabrina as well. They were led to a small room just off the gym's battle arena. The room was hardly furnished, but it did have a bed for Sarena to rest in. Kyle laid her down gently, although it was a bit more difficult with trying to position her wings and tail feathers comfortably around her. Sarena made a small noise that could have been a thank-you to Kyle and folded her wings around her body. In seconds, the girl was sound asleep. Sabrina, not having to worry about her daughter anymore, turned to the other four, examining them curiously. 

"Now, would any of you care to explain just what is going on?" she asked pointedly.

"Hell, how should we know?" Varia snapped, her Mew tail lashing angrily. "We were just trying to save Kyle and Sarena, then all of a sudden we end up here, wherever this is, and _you_ start asking _us_ what's going on!" 

"Er…Varia? I really don't think you should be talking like that to Sabrina," Indigo in a low whisper. "I've heard that she turns people into dolls when she gets pissed."

"What are you talking about?! How do you know that lady's name? What the hell is going on?!" Varia exploded. Everyone turned to give her a surprised look, including Sabrina.

"You've never heard of Sabrina?" Indigo asked, slightly astonished. "She's the gym leader in Saffron City."

Varia's anger dissipated abruptly and was replaced with a look of fear. "Saffron City? Are you saying we're in Saffron City?" Indigo nodded slowly. "What?! No! I can't be here! Send me back! Send me back home right now!" Varia exclaimed. She seemed on the brink of hysterics. 

"Varia, it's okay. Team Rocket can't find us here," Kyle said, attempting to reassure her. 

"I don't care!" she shrieked. "Don't you understand? I have to go back to Viridian right now!" With that, she ran out of the room. Kyle ran after her. Indigo and Emery were about to follow, but Sabrina stopped them.

"Don't worry about her. That boy will make sure she's okay," she explained. "However, I would still like to know just what is going on, if you don't mind."

After one final glance after their two departed friends, Indigo sighed. "All right, but you better get comfortable. It's gonna be a long story."

As Indigo began to tell the gym leader the events that had led up to their arrival, Kyle caught up with Varia just as she was about to run out of the gym. He caught her by the shoulder.

"Let me go!" she cried out. "I'm going home even if I have to walk!"

"We're miles from Viridian!" Kyle said, trying to talk some sense into the girl. "Besides, even if you could walk there, how far do you think you'd get without being noticed? The ears and tail are a bit obvious, you know."

Varia stopped struggling to break free of Kyle's grasp and just looked up into his gray eyes. Her gaze dropped in embarrassment. "You're right. It'll be really easy for Team Rocket to track me down if I just walk around with these…these _things_ in plain sight. God damn it! Why, Kyle? Why did this happen to me? I just wanted to be normal!"

"None of us wanted to have our genetics tampered with."

She pulled away from him. "Oh yeah? Well, what about you? You don't look too worse for wear after they messed with you! You're still human! How could you know how I feel?"

Kyle sighed. "I'm not human anymore. Here, look." He pulled up one sleeve to show his forearm. Varia gasped when she saw that his arm now had some sort of armor grafted to it. It looked like the body armor that some pokemon had.

"They gave me Alakazam DNA," he explained, pulling his sleeve back down. "I've got that body armor on my arms, chest, shoulders, and legs. So, what they did to you and the others, they also did to me." He looked at her steadily. "And how do you think I feel about it? Just because I can hide the fact that I'm not completely human anymore doesn't mean that I'm not troubled by it." 

Varia felt sorry for Kyle. Her ears were lowered and her tail rested listlessly on the floor. Finally, she said, "I'm sorry. I really am. But I still have to go back to Viridian City. I just _have_ to."

"Why?" he asked. Varia was surprised by the tone he used when asking that simple question. He wasn't challenging her choice like she had expected. Instead, he was just asking out of curiosity. 

It's because…Well, I've never been outside of the city," she admitted. "It's all I've known my whole life. That's where my job is, my home is, and where my pokemon are. Everything I've ever known is there. It's where I belong. And I'm…" She broke off suddenly.

"What?"

"I'm…scared, Kyle. I'm really scared of being away from home."

Varia's eyes misted up when she finally confessed her fears. She turned her head away slightly and let her black hair fall in front of her eyes, not wanting Kyle to see her cry. But to her surprise, she felt him pull her close in a gentle hug. 

"You didn't leave everything in Viridian," he said quietly. "I'm here."

****

"And there were Rockets coming from the left and right! I was all, like, bam! Pow! Die, evil Rockets!" Indigo was saying as Kyle and a calmer Varia reentered the room. "Man, you shoulda seen me! I kicked the crap outta every one o' them," she said proudly, polishing her nails on the front of her shirt. At a nudge from Emery, Indigo saw that their two companions had returned and wrapped up her story. "But they still outnumbered us, so Sarena teleported us all here and we met you in the gym."

Sabrina nodded, taking a moment to consider all the information she got from the Raichu girl. The gym leader couldn't help but wonder what had made her daughter teleport the whole group here. Why had she not chosen someplace that had been closer? That way, she would not have been as worn out as she was now. Sabrina wondered if there was some other reason Sarena had tried to get herself and her friends as far away from Viridian as she could manage.

She sat down on the bed next to her daughter and spoke quietly to her as the others just watched. "Sarena? Sarena, I need you to wake up. Wake up, sweetie." She placed her hand on Sarena's shoulder and shook the girl slightly to rouse her. Sarena groaned in her sleep and rubbed her eyes. She opened one eye just barely to squint at her mother.

"What?" she grumbled. "I'm tired."

"Why did you teleport here? Why did you take everyone so far from Viridian?" Sabrina asked.

Sarena's eyes widened and she sat up. The girl now seemed wide awake. "Mom, there was this monster at Team Rocket!" she exclaimed. "I saw it when it was talking to Varia. It called itself Mewtwo and said that it was a clone of Mew. When I saw it, I couldn't believe how much psychic power it was giving off. It wanted something with Varia and I just _knew_ that we had to get as far away from it as possible. There was something…evil about it."

Varia nodded vigorously. "Yeah! It kept saying that we were related and that I had to help it take over the world or some nonsense like that. When I refused, it made me part pokemon." She shivered involuntarily. "It knew all this stuff about me, too."

A cloned pokemon, you say?" Sabrina remarked thoughtfully. "I'll have to talk with the other gym leaders about this. Obviously, Team Rocket is tampering with things that are out of their control."

"Mom, can we stay here for a while?" Sarena asked suddenly. "I think we all need some rest and a little while to sort things out."

Sabrina nodded. "That would be fine. Just be sure that all of you stay out of sight of the public. There's no telling who might spot you or what they might do."

"Heck, you don't need to tell us twice!" Indigo exclaimed. "Now, since we're gonna be here for an extended stay, what do you say you point us in the direction of the kitchen? I'm starving!"

With a laugh, Sabrina agreed that getting some food might be a good idea and led the group to the kitchen, except for Sarena who chose to lie back down on the bed. She wrapped her wings around herself and smiled.

"And while I'm here, maybe I can learn to fly, too!"

Author's End Notes: Pretty short, pretty pointless, but I had to post something! Anyway, the next part will be infinitely more interesting as I am going to delve into Reaper's psyche a bit (oooh, scary!). Also on the writing front, Indigo's vignette for The Beginning of the Road is in the works. That's all, so be good and write a review, please!


	8. Ch. 8--Grim Games

Author's Notes: Oh yeah! I told you I had this chapter all planned out! So, here it is for all you Reaper fans, but be forewarned: this chapter is highly disturbing. It's not violent in any way, but Reaper starts acting really, _really_ weird. Some of the stuff that I get into here with Reaper will be elaborated on when I post his vignette.

Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon (and I'm getting sick of writing it). I only own Varia and Reaper. All the other characters belong to their specific creators.

Chapter 8—Grim Games

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- 

I took the one less traveled by, 

And that has made all the difference. 

--Robert Frost, _The Road Not Taken_

"Turn left here," Slater instructed from the back seat of the jeep. Lani nodded and directed the car onto the new street. The four Rockets were tracking down the missing research specimens. As per Slater's instructions, they were heading towards Saffron. The psychic had told them earlier that Sarena would have gone to one of two places, either Saffron or Vermilion, since they would offer the most protection for her and her friends. Though the former rocket's personnel file had said nothing about it, Slater had gone through her memories before and found that her parents were the gym leaders in those two cities. The Rocket group was just leaving Vermilion after finding no trace of their quarry.

"This is what I love about Team Rocket!" Lani said cheerfully. "They let me drive even though I'm only fifteen!" 

"Just don't let a cop pull you over," Reaper commented absently. He was sitting in the passenger seat, his paw-like feet resting on top of the dashboard. He was also still looking over the files their boss had given to them.

She glanced at Reaper and asked, "Hey, you're sixteen, so why didn't you volunteer to drive?"

"Still studying," he answered, waving the files slightly. "I want to know all I can about these five before I get around to torturing them. It's much more entertaining if I know their weaknesses ahead of time."

"The boss said he wanted them alive," Slater reminded Reaper, who just growled in response and went back to looking at the files.

"Torture doesn't mean death. Ask Angel back there. He'll back me up on that point, won't you?" Reaper said with a smug look at Angel. "Go ahead, Jason, tell him about all the tortures you lived through." When the other boy didn't respond, Reaper goaded him further. "Oh, don't be shy. Tell him about the nine circles…" Angel cringed visibly, but still refused to talk. He kept his head lowered, knowing full well the look of satisfaction that The Reaper must have been wearing. 

"Hey, we've got an intersection coming up. Which way should I go?" Lani asked. Though she knew the way, she thought it would be a good idea to stop Reaper from taunting Angel. 

"Just keep going straight," Slater said. "This road should take us straight into Saffron City. Then we can search the gym the moment we get there."

"I don't know. It's getting kind of late," Lani commented. "We might have to wait until tomorrow if we want to search the gym and keep a low profile…"

The conversation faded in Reaper's ears as he turned to the next file. On the first page was a picture of a girl who looked as though she had been beaten down her entire life. It was the same girl he had tortured a few days ago. He remembered that her name was Emery and that she had claimed to be a slave from the Orange Islands. 

"Emery…" Reaper whispered to himself, wanting to hear the word for some reason. He half-smiled as he looked at her picture. While he usually forgot about the people he had tortured, he remembered this girl quite well. He recalled the brave façade she had put up when they first met, the façade he had so quickly destroyed. Slowly he traced one finger down the girl's face in the picture. That girl, Emery, was most intriguing to him. How delightful that he would see her again during this hunt! Reaper had to grit his pointed teeth to keep from laughing out loud. At this date and time, he felt no need to let the others in on his thoughts.

The group continued to drive down to the road. Unfortunately, they hit some heavy traffic and were not able to make it into Saffron before night fell. They were forced to pull off to the side of the road and set up camp, as they could not stay at a motel without being noticed. Slater was chosen to start the campfire and set about doing so as the others began to unpack their meager dinners for that night. As soon as the fire was lit, they gathered around it. Lani had gotten the files from Reaper and was going through them when she stopped on Varia's.

"Hey, look at this," she said. "This is really weird."

"What is it?" Slater asked.

"This file for that Varia girl is missing a bunch of information," Lani stated. "It has nothing on her background or family or anything."

Reaper stood up and walked over to her, peering at the file over the girl's shoulder. "I remember that one. The information's not missing, Lani. It's just classified."

"Classified? Why would there be classified information on a girl who just takes care of the gym's pokemon?"

"Because someone doesn't want us to know," he answered simply. Lani was about to ask him what he meant, but he walked off into the night.

"Hey! Reaper, where are you going?" she called after him. He didn't respond and Lani turned to Slater and Angel. "Well, one of you guys go bring him back!"

Slater laughed scornfully. "If you want that freak back, you go get him. I'd be delighted to see him wander off and never return."

Lani frowned. "Hey, I'm the boss and I say—" She was abruptly cut off as she suddenly felt pain shoot through her brain. It stopped almost as quickly as it had come. Lani rubbed her temples and looked at Slater, noticing the fading red gleam in his eyes from behind the darkened glasses.

"Like I said, you want him, you get him," he told her with a smirk.

"How dare you use your psychic powers on me!" Lani exclaimed. She lashed her tail and extended her feline claws and was about to knock some sense into that cocky psychic when she thought better of it. She had to go find The Reaper before he did anything high-profile that could ruin their mission. With one last glare at Slater, she stalked off in the direction Reaper had gone. 

It didn't take the girl long to find him. She now had the night vision of a cat, so she could see perfectly in the dark night. After a brief hike, she found the lost Rocket—standing in the middle of a cemetery. It was the eeriest image, Lani thought to herself. The tall boy with horns and a barbed tail stood perfectly still, staring at two gravestones in front of him. Though his back was to her, Lani thought she could see a faint red glow emanating from his eyes.

"Uh, Reaper?" she said quietly as she approached him. He turned his head to look at her and Lani could see that his eyes were indeed glowing brighter than normal.

"Why, Lani," Reaper greeted her, "I didn't hear your approach."

"Yeah, it's a cat thing," she explained. "But what are you doing out here? It's creepy."

"I heard them singing," Reaper answered quietly. Then he grinned insanely and said, "I can hear them and I can see them! Do you think it's the Houndoom DNA, Lani dear?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Reaper gestured across the cemetery expansively. "The dead, of course. I can hear them talking and see their faint images. They're all over this place, tormented souls not allowed to ascend to heaven but not vile enough to be sucked into hell."

__

He's talking crazy, Lani thought to herself. _Dark pokemon don't see spirits…do they?_

"Over here," Reaper said, leaping over to a plain gravestone. "This one died in a car accident. And that one over there," he continued, running over to another marker, "was poisoned by a jealous mistress. All they can do is stay in this cemetery and wail about their misfortunes of life. They are being tortured for all eternity, either because of what they did or because they were not able to do. Spirits with unfinished business, you know?"

"Look, Reaper, I think we should be heading back to our camp…" Lani commented nervously. All this talk about the dead was starting to scare her. Everyone knew The Reaper was crazy, sure, but this was really over the edge, even for him.

"Give me time to pay my respects, Lani dear," he said with a sick laugh. Reaper walked back to the two gravestones he had been standing at before and knelt before them. For a moment he was silent, his head bowed as if in prayer. Then he began to laugh, quietly at first but gaining volume and madness as it continued. Finally, to end the macabre ceremony, he plunged one of his knives into one of the graves. Lani couldn't help but gasp at the sight. 

"Are you insane?!" she finally blurted out. "You can't go sticking knives into graves like that!"

Reaper stood up and walked over to Lani. She involuntarily took a step back. He smiled down at her, baring his fangs ever so slightly.

"Not just any graves, sweetheart, but very special graves. Go ahead, read the names."

Lani shook her head in disgust. "Forget it. Let's just get out of this place. It's creeping me out." She started to leave, but Reaper caught her arm.

"Do you know why Varia's information is classified?" he asked out of nowhere.

Lani blinked in surprise at the question. "What? What got you thinking about that again?"

"Do you always answer a question with a question?" Reaper returned with a smirk. Lani was about to say something nasty, but she stopped when Reaper looked back over his shoulder at the cemetery. Then he looked back at Lani and said, "I'll tell you what I know, but not here. There are too many listening. You never know when someone might channel one of those ghosts and get our secrets."

"Yeah, if you say so," Lani replied with blatant sarcasm. Whether Reaper noticed it or chose to ignore it, she wasn't sure. He led her away from the cemetery anyway, stopping in a small field near the road. Lani glanced around and noticed that she could not see the campfire, but made no comment. Reaper might act crazy, but he wasn't stupid. He could get them back easily.

"So, you ready to be enlightened?" Reaper asked with a grin.

"Of course! Stop being so damn suspenseful about everything!" Lani snapped.

"As you wish, Lani dear. Now listen carefully because I hate to repeat myself. As you and I both know, Varia was just an employee at the Viridian gym. All she did was care for the pokemon the boss liked to keep. She was never part of Team Rocket. You follow me?"

"Yes, but what's the point of that?"

"I'm getting to it. Now, you and I both know about those genetic experiments Team Rocket is doing. Hell, we're both parts of those experiments! Now, I ask you, do you ever recall Varia being used as a research specimen? And, more importantly, do you ever recall the boss having access to Mew DNA to use on her?"

Lani's eyes widened in realization. She found herself at a loss for words.

"My point exactly," Reaper answered her silence smugly. "Obviously, that girl's got some secret past that the boss probably knows about, but he doesn't want anyone else to know. I doubt if Varia even knows about what's been done to her. If you ask me, she is completely artificial." 

"What do you mean by that?"

"She's a manufactured product, copyright Team Rocket, Lani dear. The boss must have gotten Mew DNA from somewhere, stuck it in a test tube, and made a homemade Mew girl. He probably had to use human DNA to fill in missing sequences in the helix strands. That's why she looks like a normal person…well, at least she _did_ look normal."

"How…How did you figure that out?" Lani questioned in disbelief.

"The movie _Jurassic Park!_" Reaper gave a curt laugh. "Well, at least that's where a few of my ideas came from. I'm smarter than everyone thinks, but you already figured that out, didn't you?" He stared at Lani, his red eyes locking dangerously with her own green ones. "You know I'm not as dumb as that psychic bastard back at camp thinks I am. And you've probably already guessed that I had ulterior motives for joining this foolish mission, haven't you?"

Lani gulped nervously and took a step back. "I knew you were smart, but I…I didn't think you were so perceptive," she admitted. "So what else to do you know?"

"Ah, ah, ah," Reaper chided, waving one clawed finger in front of her face. "You don't get answers that easily. You'll know what I want when, and only when, I choose to let you in on the secret. But for now, if you still strive to understand me, I highly suggest that you go read those gravestones. Learn the names of the dead well, dear Lani. And, should you figure out that clue, I'll give you another one to solve. Soon enough, you shall know all the answers to your questions. Now, let the game begin!" he shouted with a maniacal laugh. He slowly raised one arm and pointed off in the direction they had come from. "Cemetery's that way. You can find your way back to camp from there. I will meet up with you tomorrow morning." With that, Reaper dropped to all fours and ran off. 

Lani found that she couldn't even watch him go. She was too upset by what had just happened. Reaper was acting more and more insane the closer they approached Saffron. She just _had_ to know what was going on with him, so she walked in the direction Reaper had pointed before he disappeared into the night. As soon as she reached the cemetery and began to search for the two graves. She found them due to the knife that now marked them. Lani knelt to read the stone markers but noticed something odd about the knife first. Not completely comfortable with the idea of having to touch the weapon that was buried nearly up to its hilt in the ground, she scrutinized it using her night vision. The knife, she quickly realized, was not actually a knife at all, but an ornate letter opener. The sides of the blade had been filed to a sharp point, making it more deadly than it was supposed to be. There was a symbol on the side of the handle that appeared to be an Alakazam doing some sort of psychic attack with its two spoons. The letters 'G' and 'M' had been engraved on either spoon, while a larger 'R' had been carved above the Alakazam's head.

Not completely sure of what it meant, Lani turned to the gravestones. They did not appear to be very old, maybe just a few years. She read the names off of both stones aloud.

"George Richards and Molly Richards," she said softly. Lani then looked at the dates that they had died and was surprised to see that it had been on September first, and both had died in the same year. Well, that was either a coincidence, or an accident involving them both…or a double murder.

Lani swung around and looked at the knife again. 'G', 'M', and 'R'—George and Molly Richards! Reaper had had that letter opener with him when he was kneeling in front of the graves. It must have belonged to the two that now occupied these graves.

"Reaper, why would you have that letter opener?" she wondered aloud. Reaper—saying the name out loud made her recall something else: Reaper was a nickname. His real name was Grim Richards. 

That was it! That was the link he wanted her to figure out! Lani just knew that had to be it. Reaper was related to these two, she was sure of it. Now there was only one question left.

Was he kneeling at their graves to avenge their deaths…or to gloat over them?

Author's End Notes: Er…Sorry for the cliffhanger. I'm trying to cut back, I really am! I guess I'm just too evil to end a chapter normally. Bwahahahahaha!!! Anyway, Lani's gonna have her hands full trying to keep the peace and solve the mystery that is Grim "The Reaper" Richards. Just what are The Reaper's personal objectives? Is he right about Varia's origins? And what, if anything, can the other Rockets do to keep his madness in check? I'll get the next part up as soon as possible, along with Indigo's vignette. Feel free to R/R!


	9. Ch. 9--His Own Agenda

Author's Notes: Yes, the plot thickens! Varia's having disturbing dreams and Lord Reaper (I've been calling him that recently. Isn't that scary?) is putting his own plan into action. I'm not completely satisfied with this chapter, so it may be edited later on. If it is, I'll let everyone know. Hey, in other news, I don't have to put disclaimers anymore because all the chapters are connected now! Yay! Anyway, hope that everyone enjoys this part. Oh, and I would like to thank Wind especially because she sent me fanart for this story! Thank you so much!

Chapter 9—His Own Agenda

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- 

I took the one less traveled by, 

And that has made all the difference. 

--Robert Frost, _The Road Not Taken_

Varia woke up before everyone else. She bolted upright in bed, breathing hard. The dream still lingered in her mind, preventing her from even thinking about going back to sleep. Instead, she tossed off the covers of the makeshift bed she had been sleeping in and exited the room as quietly as she could, not wanting to wake her friends. She had slept in her clothes, so she did not have to get dressed before wandering out into the main part of the gym. 

After making sure that none of the gym employees had seen her, Varia a staircase and climbed them to the roof. Once there, she could see the sun just beginning to rise over the horizon. The wind blew softly, swirling her black hair around her face. Varia sighed as she looked to the west. Viridian City was somewhere off in that direction, as was her home, her pokemon, her job, and her feeling of security. Now she was out in a world that she had never explored before with people she barely knew…yet she still called them friends.

"Well," she said to herself as she sat on the ledge of the roof, "I suppose they aren't bad for humans. Probably because they're all part pokemon." That reminded her of her current situation, which only served to dampen her spirit even more. Varia's ears drooped and her tail hung off the edge of the building lifelessly. Would she ever be normal again? Would she ever be accepted back at the gym?

"What are you doing up here?"

Varia jumped at the voice and shrieked. She turned to see Emery standing at the entrance to the stairwell. The girl with the Vaporeon fins was looking at her curiously and, Varia thought, some sympathy.

"Oh, I just had a bad dream and I couldn't sleep." Varia laughed at herself. "But listen to me, I sound like a six-year-old. Getting scared by a simple dream. It's pathetic, isn't it?"

Emery shook her head. "No, it's not. It doesn't matter how old you get. You can still be haunted by dark dreams." The girl looked at her feet and clasped her hands behind her back.

"You sound like you've had your share of nightmares," Varia commented.

"You have no idea."

"Well…we could talk about our dreams. That helps sometimes," the Mew girl suggested. "I used to do that with my pokemon back at home."

Emery looked up at Varia. "Are you sure you want to listen to me?"

"Only if you listen to me," Varia answered with a smile. She indicated a spot next to her on the ledge. "Come on, sit down. It's a nice view." She turned around on the ledge so that her feet were hanging off the side of the building. Hesitantly, Emery walked over and sat down as well. She let her feet dangle over the edge, but refused to look down. It was too far of a drop for her liking.

"You want to go first, or should I?" Emery asked.

"It's all you."

"Okay." The former slave took a deep breath. "I used to live in the Orange Islands. They still have a slave trade there, although it's black-market, so not many outsiders know about it." She paused when she noticed Varia's look of surprise.

"I…I didn't think there was slavery anymore," Varia admitted. 

"I can assure you, there is," Emery said bitterly. "I've been a slave my whole life. I've been abused and misused since I was five. I've lost count of how many scars I have. I don't even know what it's like to be free, but I've always wanted to know. When a man bought me and brought me back to Viridian, I thought I would be freed. Obviously, I was wrong. He just used me as a science experiment. Now, not only am I a slave, but I'm a freak, too. And now, not a night goes by that I don't have horrible nightmares about slavery or science labs. Last night, I dreamed that I was tied down to a table and all my former owners were standing around me, laughing. They each held up a syringe and jammed it into me all over. Then they started chanting 'Make the perfect slave. Make the perfect slave. Make the perfect slave!' over and over."

Varia was stunned into silence. She could do nothing but stare at Emery. Finally, she said quietly, "Wow. And I thought I had problems. Here I am, all upset because I'm away from my comfort zone, but you…you've really got something to worry about. God, I feel so selfish."

Emery's eyes widened and she shook her head violently. "No, you're not! You haven't done anything selfish! You had no way of knowing about my life." She put a consoling hand on Varia's shoulder. "Hey, why don't you tell me about your dream now? It might make you feel better by getting it off your chest. I think I'm feeling better after telling you about my problem."

Varia smiled at the younger girl. "Thanks. You know, you're pretty good at cheering people up. But I'm telling you, my dream is going to seem like nothing after yours."

"That's fine. Just talk, already."

"Okay, here goes. I was standing in this dark room. The weird thing was that I was wearing some strange metal armor with all these wires and things connected to it. There was this visor over my eyes, so I couldn't see very well. Then this figure appeared above me. It was a really vague image, but I got this intense feeling of hatred when I saw him. The figure said something, but I can't remember what. It really made me angry, and suddenly, the whole place just exploded. The building or whatever I was in collapsed all around me. Then my viewpoint shifted, and I was watching the whole thing happen. I saw the building fall and a streak of blue light shoot out from it. Then the worst part of the dream happened. I heard this voice, and it told me to follow it, to find my destiny. It said that I had no choice and that I would die if I disobeyed it. Then I woke up." Varia rubbed the back of her neck. "It's stupid, really. You know, hearing it out loud makes me realize just how stupid it really was."

"Then what scared you about it?" Emery asked. "There has to be a reason why you were scared."

"I don't know," Varia answered slowly. "I guess it was the voice. It just gave me the worst feeling deep down. It was like my instincts were telling me to stay away from the voice."

"Maybe your subconscious was trying to tell you something."

"Yeah, sure," Varia laughed. "Look, a dream is just a dream, nothing more. I was probably just stressed about everything that's happened recently."

Emery gave Varia one final look, then swung her legs back around and stood up. She started walking back to the stairwell. "I don't know, Varia. It sounded awfully detailed to just be a regular dream, in my opinion."

Varia turned and followed her down the stairs, not saying anything in response. They both reached the end of the stairs and headed towards the kitchen, hoping that someone else was up and cooking breakfast, and someone was, fortunately. One of the gym employees was making pancakes over the stove, listening to music on the radio as he worked. Varia and Emery sat at the table, waiting patiently for him to finish.

Suddenly, the smooth jazz that the radio had been playing was interrupted with a news story. The announcer's voice crackled as it spoke.

"We interrupt this program to bring you an important news bulletin. This morning, one of the attached buildings to the Viridian gym was destroyed in a vast explosion. Police are still unsure of the cause, but most are guessing that it was a terrorist attack. Fortunately, no one seems to have been injured in the explosion. We will bring you further information as it is available. Now back to your program, already in progress."

As the jazz music picked up again, Varia and Emery stared at each other in horrified surprise.

"Your dream…" Emery whispered.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Varia said in return, darting from the kitchen and to the nearest bathroom.

****

Lani, Slater, and Angel discovered Reaper the next morning. He was sprawled out in the back seat of the jeep, snoring quietly. There were no clues as to what he had been doing out all night. 

As the only one who cared to wake Reaper up, Lani approached the slumbering boy and shook his shoulder a bit. When she received no response, she shook him harder and said, "Reaper, wake up. It's time to drive into Saffron. We've still got a job to do." Her voice seemed to rouse him, as he opened his eyes and yawned. Reaper pushed himself up into a sitting position and stretched languidly.

"Man, is the sun up already?" he groaned. "Well, I guess that's what I get for staying up all night and hunting."

"Hunting?" Slater questioned. His tone indicated that he did not care if he got an answer or not.

"Yeah," Reaper answered. "I wanted to see just what I could do with my Houndoom half, so I went out and hunted some of the local fauna. I must admit, the pokemon DNA we've all been given seems to be providing more than just new looks. I've got the strength and speed of a Houndoom now." He paused, looking thoughtful. "I wonder what else I got?…"

"Look, we can worry about that later," Lani declared. "Right now, we've got to track down those five research specimens before they leave town or the boss will have our heads."

"Right you are, Lani dear," Reaper agreed with a laugh. He jumped up into the passenger's seat in front, letting Slater and Angel take the back seat. The jeep's hierarchy had been established when they first left. Lani wanted to drive, seeing as how she was the leader of this motley crew. Reaper refused to sit next to a psychic and Angel obviously had issues with sitting next to the single person who had caused most of his suffering. So, Lani and Reaper always took the front while Slater and Angel were always in the back.

After they had all loaded up into the jeep, the Rockets drove down the road towards Saffron City. The group traveled in silence until they reached the outskirts of town. There were a few houses scattered about, as well as some small shops and restaurants. They were just passing a pokemart when the jeep hit something in the road. Whatever the car had hit, it caused the tires to blow out, making the jeep skid out of control. Lani spun the wheel as hard as she could, trying to regain command of the vehicle. It proved all in vein, however, as the jeep flew right off the road and into a ditch. It hit with a great enough impact to make the passengers lurch forward, restrained only by their seatbelts. Finally, the jeep settled, smoke pouring out of its broken engine.

"Good god," Slater grumbled. "What the hell did we hit?"

"How am I supposed to know?!" Lani snapped back. She was in the process of unbuckling herself from the seat. "Let's just get outta here before the whole thing blows up."

"Sage advice, Lani dear," Reaper said. He merely ripped the seatbelt from the seat and hopped out of the car. The other three followed a bit more slowly. They climbed out of the ditch and stared at the wrecked vehicle.

"Well, now what do we do?" Slater asked. "We've got no transportation."

"I guess we're walking to the gym," Lani sighed. 

Angel spoke up then. "We can't walk during the day," he said. "We'll be noticed."

"So we'll wait until it gets dark," the Persian girl told him. "It's no big deal. If those research specimens are at the gym, I doubt if they're in any big hurry to leave."

"Well, if we're just going to hang around here, I'm going to do some shopping," Reaper stated with a laugh. He pulled his trenchcoat all the way around his body to hide the knives and the Team Rocket uniform, then walked across the street to the pokemart. The other three watched, stunned.

"He's taking this well," Lani commented.

Slater suddenly rounded on her. "He's insane! Of course he's taking this well!"

"Oh, just back off a bit, Slater! He's not all bad!"

"_Not all bad_?! Girl, are you even listening to yourself?!"

The two continued to snipe at each other. Angel couldn't care less what they were arguing about. He never took his eyes off Reaper as the other boy entered the shop. Angel just knew that something was wrong. He had to follow the half-Houndoom, even if it meant more torture at the sadist's hands. He just couldn't let anyone be hurt. So, while Lani and Slater bickered over The Reaper's mental state, Angel folded his leathery wings around his shoulders like a cape and crossed the street to the pokemart. As he pushed the door open, a small bell chimed to signal his entrance. Almost immediately, Angel scanned the aisles for any sign of The Reaper. He walked up and down the store, trying to find his foe. Finally, Angel found the other boy.

He was standing at the checkout counter.

Angel narrowed his eyes and kept his distance. Something was very odd about this. There was Reaper, actually _paying_ for whatever he had chosen to buy. He wasn't trying to steal it and, even more surprising, he wasn't sticking a knife into the cashier's heart. What was that lunatic planning, Angel wondered. 

"Thank you and please come again!" the cashier said cheerfully. "Oh, and have fun at your costume party, sir!"

Reaper smiled at her. "Oh, I will. Don't worry about that." Then he picked up the plastic bag containing his purchases and walked from the store. Angel made sure to avoid being seen by the woman at the cash register and followed Reaper out the door. Reaper was waiting just outside for him.

"What, you didn't see anything you wanted to buy in there?" he asked mockingly.

"What are you up to?" Angel demanded.

Reaper laughed harshly. "Are you accusing me of plotting something? Honestly, if I was, do you really think I'd tell an insignificant maggot like you?"

Angel balled his fists, but managed to keep himself from attacking his foe. "At least tell me why you didn't kill that woman in there. You owe me that much."

Reaper's twisted smile disappeared from his face. He stared down at Angel with his red eyes and spoke in a flat voice, "It is _you_ who owes _me_. Never forget that. If not for me, you would be dead. I chose to keep you alive, so your life is my possession." Before Angel could make an angry retort, Reaper continued. "But I'll still tell you why I spared the life in there. It should make the game more interesting. You see, Angel, it is true that I could have killed her and stolen what I wanted. But thievery is a petty crime, a crime that only weak mortals would lower themselves to committing. I will not commit such trespasses, not now, not ever."

"What about killing and torture?" Angel asked pointedly.

"Do you cry when you crush an ant beneath your heel? Do you mourn the loss of a miserable little fly when you swat the life out of it?"

Angel was so shocked, he couldn't find his voice to respond.

Reaper grinned derisively. "And you probably want to know what I bought, don't you? Just a few potions, in case one of us should get hurt. Oh, and this." He reached into the bag and pulled out a small, black box. It had no adornments, save the number "42" engraved on the top of the box. Reaper carelessly tossed it up and down in the air, then slipped it into one of the pockets of his trenchcoat.

"A TM?" Angel questioned.

"Yep. And don't bother to ask why, because I don't intend on telling you." With that, Reaper turned his back on the other boy and walked back to join Lani and Slater, who were still arguing over some vague point. 

Angel expression darkened. He had spent enough time with The Reaper in his dungeon to know that he was planning something. Unfortunately, there was no way to get an answer from that maniac unless he felt like giving it. All that was left now was to wait for the plan to be fully revealed.

__

And I swear that I will be there to stop you, Reaper, Angel thought. 

Author's End Notes: And there you have it. I'm still working on Indigo's vignette, so I hope it'll be out by Friday. Then it's on to Angel's!


	10. Ch. 10--Sanctuary Defiled

Author's Notes: Hey, I kept my promise! I said this would be out by the end of the week, and it was! Yes, ladies and gents, this is an action-packed chapter. We've had a lot of talking so far, so I thought I should throw in a little violence just to even things out. Besides, everyone loves violence! But never fear, this won't be the last fight scene for this story. I'm planning on some other ones later on. Out of curiosity, who would you, the reader, like to see locked in mortal combat? I'm just wondering.

Chapter 10—Sanctuary Defiled

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- 

I took the one less traveled by, 

And that has made all the difference. 

--Robert Frost, _The Road Not Taken_

The morning sun shining through the blinds woke Indigo up. She tried to role over and go back to sleep, but she was unable to drift off again. Finally, she hauled herself out of bed, extremely irritated at the bright light that she couldn't seem to escape from. 

Slowly and none too steadily, Indigo stumbled down the hallway to the bathroom. She tried to open the door, but found she was unable to move it. After an intense struggle with the brass knob, Indigo came to the conclusion that the door was locked. Frowning, she banged her fist on the door.

"Hey, open up! Come on!" she shouted. "What's the freakin' problem?! You fall in or something?!" The silver-haired girl's tail twitched angrily when she received no response. She was just about to ram the door with her shoulder when Emery suddenly ran up behind her. Sarena and Kyle were with her.

Emery stopped in front of the door, calling, "Varia! Varia, are you alright?"

"Talk to us, Varia!" Sarena chimed in.

Indigo stepped back, blinking in confusion. She turned to Kyle and asked, "What's going on? I get the feeling I missed something important."

"It's Varia. She had a dream about the Viridian gym being destroyed and it came true. When she heard about that, she panicked and locked herself in there." He glanced worriedly at the door. "And now she won't answer any of us."

Indigo's still sleep-addled brain took a bit longer than normal to fully comprehend what she had been told. She understood the part about Varia losing it, but what was it about the Viridian gym being destroyed by that girl's dream? Indigo watched everyone still shouting through the door, trying to get some answer from Varia. After a few minutes, she got annoyed with the lack of progress they seemed to be making. It was time for her to step in.

"I'll deal with this," Indigo announced, making her way to the door. The three others gave her strange looks, not knowing what she was planning. She turned to them and said, "Okay, I'm going to do something weird, and you guys have to promise not to tell anyone about it. Promise?" Kyle, Sarena, and Emery nodded. "Good. Now just stay out here and I'll get Varia." With that, Indigo stepped forward, passing right through the door. 

Inside the bathroom, the first thing Indigo noticed was that the mirror had been shattered. The second thing she noticed was Varia sitting on the floor, her eyes squeezed shut and her hands clutching at her ears. Indigo approached her slowly.

"Um…Var? You okay, Var?" she asked quietly. The girl didn't respond. Indigo knelt down in front of her, gazing at Varia curiously. "Yo, Varia! Snap out of it!" she said a bit louder, grabbing one of the girl's wrists. At the physical contact, Varia seemed to break out of her trance, opening her eyes and staring at Indigo with puzzlement.

"Huh? Indigo? How did you get in here?" Varia asked.

"I walked through the door," she answered simply. When she saw Varia's confusion, she explained, "It's an aftereffect of one of the experiments Team Rocket did on me, but that's not important right now. What I was wondering is what's going on with you? I mean, you dream about destroying the Viridian gym, then lock yourself in the bathroom and slip into some sort of spontaneous coma. What's going on in your head, Var?"

The other girl sighed. "I wish I knew. I heard about the gym getting blown up on the radio and ran in here. Then I saw my reflection in the mirror and it reminded me of Mewtwo. That got me thinking about how he said I have some sort of power and that I could never be normal again. I guess I sort of freaked out, because I threw the soap dish at the mirror and then…I don't know. I just kind of blanked out after that."

Indigo shook her head slightly. "You're a weird one, Var. Look, you're in a psychic gym. There's no way anything can sneak in here and get you. This is a perfectly safe place."

"A…safe place?" Varia mumbled, as if trying to comprehend. 

"Yeah, and you've got your friends with you," Indigo reminded her.

"My friends…Right. Oh, crap! I hope they aren't worried about me!"

Indigo grinned and stood up, helping Varia to her feet. "Come on, let's get outta here. We're holding up the line." Varia nodded and they both left the bathroom. Kyle, Emery, and Sarena were glad to see that the Mew girl was fine. So, after everyone was sure that Varia was back to normal, they all walked back to the kitchen to eat breakfast and discuss what they should do next.

****

Night fell, and the group of five had yet to decide where they should go or what could be done to fix their appearances. Eventually, Sabrina talked them into waiting until tomorrow to finish their plans. As soon as she got them all situated, she locked up the gym and went to her own home to sleep.

In the guest quarters of the gym, Sarena was just falling asleep when she thought she heard a voice. She sat up in her bed, glancing around the room. All her companions seemed to be sleeping, so she wondered if maybe she had just been hearing things.

__

…Sarena…

The Articuno girl was sure she had heard something that time. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. The voice seemed to be coming from outside the room. Sarena tiptoed over to the door and pressed her ear against it, holding her breath and listening.

__

…Sarena…Open the door…

"Open the door," she repeated dully, doing as the voice commanded. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Sarena was aware that something was terribly wrong, but she could not seem to do anything about it. The voice just sounded so familiar. She walked down the hall, past the main arena for the gym, and to the front door.

__

…Unlock the front door, Sarena…

"Unlock the door." She reached out to turn the deadbolt. As it clicked, the door was pushed open from the outside. Sarena found Slater, the elite psychic from Team Rocket, now standing in front of her. At the sight of him, she broke out of the trance he had put her in.

"Slater!" she exclaimed. "How did—"

He cut her off by suddenly grabbing her around the throat with one disembodied hand. Sarena tried to scream for someone, but Slater was cutting off her oxygen. She couldn't breathe, much less cry out for help.

"You're expendable in our mission, Sarena," Slater said quietly. "Now, if you want to make it out of this alive, tell us where your friends are. Lead us to them." He spun her around so that her back was pressed up against his chest. He grabbed her arm with his other hand and stepped into the front hall of the gym. Three other people also walked in. Sarena recognized them for the most part from her time working in Team Rocket. She saw Lani, The Reaper, and that boy everyone called Angel, although all three of them had been mixed with pokemon, making their appearances slightly different than the last time she had seen them.

"Goddamn psychic mind trick," Reaper growled. "We should have just broken down the door and killed anyone who stood in our way."

"We're trying to be covert about this, Reaper," Lani reminded him harshly. She turned to Sarena. "Okay, just lead the way to the other four and we won't hurt you, got it?"

Sarena nodded, too afraid of what might happen to her if she refused. She pointed forward, indicating which way they should go. Slater held on to her tightly as they walked. Sarena made it a point to keep her mind as blank as possible, knowing that the boy holding her was probably scanning her thoughts at the very moment. She knew she had to do something to warn her friends, but it had to be something spontaneous, or else Slater would pick up on it before she even acted.

The Rockets and their captive traveled down a few more halls before they stopped in front of the guest quarters. Lani stepped up to the door, turning the knob quietly and entering the room. Angel, Reaper, and Slater with Sarena all waited for her to return a few seconds later. When she did, the girl nodded.

"That's all of them," she whispered to her team. "But there's four of us and five of them. We can't handle that many."

"Then let's kill one of them," Reaper suggested, grinning cruelly at Sarena. "And since we've already got this one here…"

Sarena never gave him a chance to act on those words. With a sudden movement, she snapped her wings open, forcing Slater to let go of her and stumble back. The unexpected action also caused the other Rockets to fall back. 

Recognizing her chance, Sarena screamed, "Guys, wake up! It's Team Rocket!" Then she was grabbed by Slater again, but her plan had worked. She could hear the sounds of life from inside the room.

"Dammit!" Lani cursed. "So much for being covert!"

"We never should have relied on the psychic!" Reaper snarled. 

"Quick! Just grab Varia and run!" Lani ordered. She, Reaper, and Angel all charged into the room, but found that their prey had woken up fully at Sarena's warning. Kyle, Indigo, Emery, and Varia were facing them, ready for an attack.

"You won't take us alive!" Indigo shouted boldly.

Reaper grinned at her, drawing his hunting knife. "That's the idea," he said, then lunged at her. Indigo was ready for it and met the attack head-on, throwing her all into it.

Lani made a grab for Varia, but was stopped by Kyle. He stood defensively in front of Varia, glaring at the Rocket. Furious at the interference, Lani extended her cat claws. She slashed forward. Kyle raised one arm, blocking the attack with his forearm. Lani's claws scratched long tears in the fabric of his jacket, but could not do any damage to the boy's actual arm because of the Alakazam body armor. Lani slashed at Kyle repeatedly, but none of her attacks did any substantial damage to him. Finally, sick of getting nowhere, she suddenly kicked out, her booted foot making contact with Kyle's stomach. The boy fell, gasping for air. Lani smiled in satisfaction and started to reach for Varia when she realized that Varia wasn't there anymore.

"Oh, great!" she grumbled. Glancing around the room, Lani saw no sign of the girl. Reaper and Indigo were still fighting, and various flashes of psychic energy lit the hallway, but Varia and the other girl, Emery were nowhere to be seen. Lani was about to go search for them when Kyle grabbed her by the ankles and knocked her to the ground. He was still able to fight. Lani gave him a feline hiss and lashed out for his face, which he blocked once more.

"Angel!" she called out, knowing that he must be nearby. "Go find Varia while we deal with these guys! Do it now!" Then Lani directed her attention once more to fighting against Kyle.

"You're sending _him_ to fulfill our objective?!" Reaper asked, though he doubted Lani heard the question. Reaper also did not bother to wait for an answer, as Indigo was running to attack him again. 

The girl slammed into the bigger boy, trying to use her momentum to knock him off balance. It partially worked, sending The Reaper stumbling backwards, but he managed to stay on his feet. He glared at her, his red eyes glowing brightly.

"You aren't going to walk away from this encounter," he growled. Then he swung his knife at Indigo, attempting to cut open her stomach. The girl jumped back just in time, the knife whistling past her midsection harmlessly.

"You talk big, but you sure don't deliver," Indigo said, smirking. 

The comment only served to infuriate Reaper further. With an animal roar, he jumped at her. Indigo spun away from his reach, but realized too late that he hadn't been trying to tackle her. Instead, Reaper grabbed her tail and yanked it as hard as he could, swinging Indigo backwards and sending her smashing into the wall. She then crumpled to the floor, too stunned to move. Reaper laughed and stood over her. He drew one of his smaller daggers and waved it in front of her face dangerously.

"Now who's all talk?" he asked mockingly. He raised the dagger. Indigo could do nothing but squeeze her eyes shut as he plunged the dagger down at her.

****

"You don't stand a chance against me!" Slater told Sarena. "You're just a low-level agent. I'm an elite psychic!"

"Well, you're on my turf now!" Sarena retorted. Her purple eyes glowed as she prepared to blast a psychic energy attack at her foe. Strangely, he did not seem to be preparing a defense. Sarena ignored that, figuring he was just being cocky like he always was. She began to glow with a blue aura, then she launched a ball of pure psychic energy at Slater. It hit him dead-on but, to her surprise and horror, it did little but make him step back and ruffle his hair a bit.

"Psychic attacks are useless against ghost-type pokemon, Sarena. If you were one of the elite psychics, you would know that," he gloated. His eyes began to glow behind his sunglasses. 

Sarena gasped and threw up a psychic shield hurriedly, but it was not strong enough. Instead of using an energy ball like she had done, Slater simply went right for her mind. He attacked her mentally, sending waves of acute pain through her skull. Sarena's hands flew up to the sides of her head and she wrapped her wings around her body, trying to block out the attack, but it was useless. Despite her valiant efforts, she was beaten. Sarena collapsed, unconscious, to the floor.

Slater did not move towards her. He just stood back, admiring his skill. In fact, he was too busy congratulating himself to notice one of his teammates leave the room and sneak off into the darkness.

****

"It was _him_! It was The Reaper!" Emery cried out as she and Varia ran down the hall. They were trying to get as far away from the fighting as possible.

"They were…They were all like us," Varia commented softly. "They were part pokemon. Why are they trying to hurt us? Shouldn't we all be on the same side?"

"We have to get away from him! He'll kill us all!" Emery nearly screamed. The poor girl was on the verge of tears. She was completely terrified to have seen The Reaper again. No matter what, she was not going to become his prisoner again.

"Emery, stop! We have to help Kyle, Indigo, and Sarena," Varia told the younger girl. She paused, taking hold of Emery's arm to stop her as well. "I know you're afraid of that Reaper guy, so I'm not going to ask you to go back there. I don't think either of us could fight any of those Team Rocket people. Maybe we can get out of the gym and get the police or something."

Emery nodded slightly, glancing over her shoulder nervously. "Yes. Yes, that's a better idea than going back to the fight. Now, how do we get out of this gym? I don't know where we are."

"Neither do I, but we should just keep on going. Eventually we'll reach an exit." Varia took Emery's hand and led her down the darkened halls. They must have been somewhere in the center of the building because there were no windows to provide light. The hallways were almost pitch-black, forcing Varia to navigate them by putting one hand on the wall. She continued to feel her way along, then stopped suddenly. Emery nearly ran into her.

"What is it?" she asked.

Varia's Mew ears twitched. "I can hear something. It sounds kind of like…like breathing, I think." She strained to pick up the origin of the sound.

"You mean there's someone else here?" Emery asked, her voice on the edge of panic. 

"I'm not su—urgh!" Varia was silenced when a black-clawed hand reached out of the darkness and encircled her throat. Emery screamed as two glowing red eyes appeared, faintly illuminating the figure of The Reaper. He stared at her and grinned, baring his fangs. With unnatural ease, he lifted Varia off the floor, choking the girl slowly.

"Emery," he hissed. "So nice to see you again." He began to extend his free hand to her.

"Oh god, no!" she screamed. Emery's panic took control of her and she forgot about Varia. All that mattered was getting away from the sadistic monster that was reaching for her. She turned and bolted down the hall. 

Emery ran, not daring to look back. She ran through the halls of the gym, not knowing or caring where she was headed, just so long as it was away from The Reaper. Somehow, she ran right to the gym's arena. Moonlight was shining down through the skylights, illuminating a figure standing in the center of the arena.

The figure of a leather-winged Team Rocket agent.

Author's End Notes: Bad Yossarian! Bad! Look at all those evil cliffhangers! Well, seems like our heroes are caught between a rock and a hard place, ne? What to do, what to do…I'll try and get the next chapter out a bit early, so I don't leave everyone in suspense for too long. 


	11. Ch. 11--Dream Eater

Author's Notes: Whew! Finished! I decided that, even though I am not Catholic, I would give up something for Lent. I gave up writer's block and wow! I have been writing almost non-stop. No joke. Anyway, here's chapter 11, and there's a lot of important stuff in it, so take notes, class! No, seriously, this is the part where Emery first meets Angel and Reaper does some more manipulating. In fact, this chapter is mostly Angel/Emery/Reaper content. And yes, there is a bit of a conflict between Angel and Reaper. Enjoy!

Chapter 11—Dream Eater

Varia clawed at the hand around her throat, trying desperately to free herself. The Reaper's grip was just too strong for her, and she felt her strength fading rapidly. As the girl exhausted the remaining air in her lungs, the world around her grew dark. All she could see were the two glowing red eyes directly in front of her. Then those, too, were gone.

Varia was in complete darkness. She couldn't see, hear, smell, or feel anything. It seemed that she was floating in some sort of void. Varia could not help but wonder if she was dead. But if she was dead, would she be able to wonder about it?

'Where am I?" she spoke aloud. The noise broke the silence and she started. 

"Varia," a voice called to her through the darkness. She strained to identify the origin of it.

"Hello? Who's there?" she asked.

"Varia, you are in danger. You must flee this place."

Though she could not recognize the speaker, Varia felt strangely compelled to listen to it. She did not even care where it was coming from anymore. Instead, she just listened to it.

"You must leave this gym and take your friends with you. Go to Cinnabar Island. There are scientists there who can make you normal again. Isn't that what you want?"

"Yeah…" Varia answered absently.

"Begin travelling in the morning. You must hurry, for Team Rocket will be on your heels. Don't forget. Now rest…Rest…"

With a slight nod, Varia lay on the "ground" of wherever she was and closed her eyes, falling into a deep slumber almost immediately. She was not even aware of the red-eyed, demonic figure that now stood over her.

"Too easy," Reaper said smugly. He turned from the girl's prone form. "Now to see if she has anything interesting locked away in her mind." With a mere thought, Reaper was able to access all of Varia's memories. Anything she had ever thought, dreamed, or remembered was now being viewed by her enemy. The data flowed directly into Reaper's brain. After only a few seconds, the half-Houndoom stopped the pokemon attack he had been using. He glanced down at Varia, a sneer on his face.

"Even you don't know where you are from. How disappointing. Your memories hold no importance for me." With a wave of one hand, Reaper faded from the realm of Varia's subconscious. 

Opening his eyes, Reaper found himself back in the dimly-lit hall. He was crouched on the floor, one hand resting on the unconscious girl's forehead. Now, after using the attack he had so recently learned, he felt more invigorated than before. He stood up, leaving her to wake up on her own time. After all, now that the idea was implanted in her mind, there was no hurry. 

__

In fact, he thought, looking down the hall that led towards the gym, _I've even got time to have a little fun._

****

Emery halted abruptly, nearly falling over. Fortunately for her, the winged person in the middle of the arena was standing with his back to her. Perhaps she could sneak away without him even noticing her. Very slowly, Emery started to edge out of the room. She moved along the edge of the wall back towards the door. Unfortunately for her, one of her hands pressed a button on the wall, causing the automatic door to slide shut noisily. Emery started, then she saw that the winged boy was looking at her.

She had been caught.

Strangely, this new boy's expression wasn't malicious or smug. Instead, Emery thought that he looked sad. His eyes showed nothing but pain and suffering.

"You must be Emery, the one mixed with Vaporeon," he stated, his voice quiet. "Just come with me peacefully. I have to take you back to Team Rocket."

Emery shook her head fiercely and stood defensively. "I'm not going back there. I'd rather die than be a prisoner of The Reaper again," she said lowly. To her surprise, the boy did not get angry. Instead, at the mention of Reaper, his eyes widened in shock. 

"You know of The Reaper?" he asked. The boy took a step towards her and Emery raised her arms, ready to fight him if she had to. The boy hesitated, his gaze catching the long scar on her left arm. "Oh, I see," he said. "That's how you know him. He tortured you, just as he did to me." He pointed to his right eye, indicating the jagged scar. Emery gasped at it. She saw that it was a burn scar, the same type as hers. 

"He…He tortured you? But, aren't you part of Team Rocket?" Emery asked, confused.

The boy's expression darkened for a moment. "I am part of their organization, but against my will. If I don't do as I am told, they send me to Reaper."

Emery let her guard down a bit. "What's your name?"

"I'm known as Angel," he answered.

"Your wings…" Emery began. 

Angel recoiled slightly at the mention of them, almost as if he were trying to hide. The leathery membranes lowered and partially wrapped around his body.

"The wings of a demon," he whispered. He raised his head to look her in the eyes. "Just go," he ordered, pointing to the door on the other side of the gym. "Get out of here before the others find you. Go get help. I won't stop you."

Emery was silent for a while, though not because she was suspicious of him. She was amazed that someone from Team Rocket could be this compassionate. With a smile, Emery walked up to Angel and placed a grateful hand on his shoulder. She felt a slight spark as she touched him, but thought it was only static electricity. Emery gazed into the boy's icy blue eyes.

"Thank you," was all she said. Then she walked to the door. As she was about to exit the arena, she heard Angel cry out. Emery whirled around and saw the winged boy on his knees, clutching at his head. Immediately, the girl ran over to him, intensely worried about this person she had just met. She tried to see what had happened, but there did not appear to be any physical damage. 

Emery was too busy trying help Angel and she didn't notice the door she had used to enter the gym slide open. She didn't notice the person she feared most standing just behind her. She didn't even notice the cries of an Eevee in pain.

Reaper hung back in the doorway, his eyes narrowed at the scene before him. He had heard the entire exchange between the two through the door. There had been no other option than to take extreme measures. Reaper was not about to let his prey, his Emery, escape. So he had chosen to compromise Angel's health by using the boy's special gift, a gift he was probably cursing right now.

"Are you two having a little midnight tryst?" he asked mockingly. Emery spun around, her face full of dread. She was paralyzed with fear. Angel, however, managed to glare at Reaper through his haze of pain. With a great deal of effort, the platinum-haired boy stood up, preparing to attack using the blades on his arms. Reaper's smile twisted and he extended one arm, revealing an Eevee he was holding by its head. The poor creature whimpered as the sadist's grip tightened on its skull. The action also caused Angel to wince and hold his own head. Emery watched the actions of each boy, not comprehending. The Reaper noticed her puzzled expression.

"Oh, your lover-boy didn't tell you?" he sneered. "Angel here has a bit of psychic ability in the form of empathy. He shares all the emotions and feelings of his pokemon and a select few humans, I believe. I hear empathy with your pokemon makes you a better trainer. What do you say, Jase? Feeling like a pokemon master right now?" Reaper laughed insanely.

"Stop hurting Cainin!" Angel said through gritted teeth. Emery could see that he was in quite a bit of pain, but he was still trying to protect his pokemon. Angel took a few weak steps towards Reaper. "Please, let him go! He's not part of this!"

Emery sat on the ground, watching the heart-wrenching scene before her. She knew she couldn't let this go on, but she was so afraid of The Reaper. As she saw Angel stagger and fall at Reaper's feet, she finally decided that it was time to face her fear. Emery stood up and ran at the villainous Rocket, who was still laughing at Angel. She barreled into him, catching him off-guard, and they both went crashing to the ground. Reaper lost his hold on the Eevee, and the small pokemon tumbled across the floor. It came to a stop near Angel, who reached out and stroked its back.

"Cainin, I got you back," he whispered. His head was still throbbing, but he was happy now that his pokemon was free from Reaper. Then Angel looked over to where Reaper and Emery were sprawled. He gasped when he saw that the Rocket held the Vaporeon girl by her arms. She was struggling to break free, but was instead hauled up by her enemy. Reaper held her in front of him like a shield. His eyes were glowing red as he smirked at Angel. Still holding Emery with one arm, he reached into his trenchcoat and withdrew a pokeball. With a maniacal laugh, he pointed the ball at the Eevee. A red beam poured from it, recalling the pokemon.

"No!" Angel shouted, jumping to his feet and preparing to fight once more.

"Attack me and you'll end up hurting your girlfriend!" Reaper snarled back. He wrapped one arm around the frightened Emery's waist and held her neck with the other hand. 

"Let. Her. Go," Angel ordered, his voice taking on a dangerous edge.

Reaper gave him a twisted smile. "You're telling _me_ what to do? I really don't think you are in any position of authority. You see, I've got your wretched little rat-dog _and_ the girl." He paused thoughtfully, then lowered his head so that his lips were right next to Emery's ear. "Hmm…I get the girl. I rather like the sound of that," he whispered to her. Then, using the hand that held her neck, Reaper turned her head towards his face. "What do you think, my dear?"

Emery felt tears beginning to run down her cheeks. Once again, she found herself unable to move, unable to resist whatever The Reaper was about to do. His face inched closer to hers, almost as if it was in slow motion. What was he going to do?! Emery screamed in her head. It seemed like he wanted to—

Suddenly, Reaper roared and jerked away from her. Emery stumbled away from him and saw that he was now holding a bleeding gash on his upper arm. Angel suddenly appeared beside her, the blades on one arm dripping blood. Reaper glared at Angel and snarled, his eyes burning brighter than a bonfire. 

"You won't hurt anyone else!" Angel proclaimed. "Not so long as I'm alive!"

"Then I'll goddamn kill you!" Reaper practically screamed. He was reaching for his knife when a piercing siren cut through the air. It was the unmistakable wail of the police. Almost as if on cue, Lani and Slater came running through the arena door at that time.

"Dammit, someone must've heard us!" Lani exclaimed. "Guys, we're leaving! We can't risk being caught now!" She ran to the opposite door, the one that would lead them out of the gym, signaling her companions to follow her. "C'mon! Let's go!"

With only a slight glance at Emery, Slater ran out the door, followed by Angel and Reaper. As the last left, he allowed himself one final look at the Vaporeon girl, who appeared to be in shock after what had just happened. Reaper clenched his teeth as blood from the wound Angel had given him began to seep between his fingers. He growled and wiped his bloody hand on the wall, leaving a deep red, smeared handprint.

__

Let the police wonder about that, he thought darkly. Then his deranged smile returned. True, he hadn't accomplished everything he had wanted to, but at least he got the important thing done.

He would meet up with their prey soon enough. And next time, he would make sure Angel was not there to interfere.

__

See you on Cinnabar, Emery…

Author's End Notes: What a horrible place to end. What happened Varia, Kyle, Sarena, and Indigo? Why does Reaper want them to go to Cinnabar? What's going to happen between Angel and Emery and Reaper? Also, in other news, I'm still working on Angel's vignette, Nine Circles, and something even better: The Reaper's solo fic. Yes, that's right, people! Everyone's favorite homicidal Houndoom morph is getting his own spin-off story! Is anyone interested in a little preview? If yes, I'll see about posting one up. Just say the word in your review. Thanks!


	12. Ch. 12--Blood From Old Wounds

Author's Notes: Okay, it's a bit of a short chapter, but there's a lot of Reaper-ness in it! Speaking of which, this part is violent. WARNING: TORTURE-RELATED VIOLENCE! There, consider yourselves warned.

Chapter 12—Blood From Old Wounds

The four Rockets tore out of the gym, running as fast as they could from the red-and-blue flashing lights that drew closer and closer to the gym. Lani led the way.

"We have to get out of town!" she called over her shoulder. "If we're caught, the boss'll have our heads!" No one argued her point, not even Slater, so she continued to run. As they reached an empty street, Lani slowed to look back at her teammates. Slater and Angel were still fairly close behind, but for some reason, Reaper was not. Lani stopped running and turned around completely, searching for the Houndoom boy. Finally, she saw him a little ways back. He was standing in front of a run-down house that was flanked by two empty lots. 

Angrily, Lani shouted at him, "Reaper! We have to go! The cops'll find us if we stay this close to the gym!" He turned his head slowly towards her, a twisted smile on his face. A shiver of fear ran through the girl unbidden.

"They won't search this house," he said. "It's rumored to be haunted. Every person in this miserable little hell-hole avoids this place. No one even wants to live near it. We'll be safe if we stay here for the night." 

"Haunted? Oh, please!" Slater scoffed. "There's no psychic in the world that's afraid of ghost pokemon. Who do you think you're kidding, Reaper?"

Reaper smirked, baring his fangs. "Who said the ghosts here were pokemon?" With that enigmatic statement, he walked through the unlocked front door. 

After a brief pause, Lani shrugged. They might as well, she figured, and went into the house as well. Slater and Angel followed behind her.

The interior of the house was less than threatening. Old pictures still hung on the walls and furniture, though covered in dust, still appeared to be sturdy. In fact, the house and its furnishings did not look very old, just unused. 

"Weird," Lani commented, scanning the building. "Hey, Reaper, how _did_ you know about this place?"

"Memories," was his response. Then he growled slightly, holding his arm. It was still bleeding from the slash he had gotten from Angel. "Now, if you would be so kind as to excuse me, I've got to take care of this before it gets any worse." He walked off into a different part of the house. Lani watched him as he left. She could not help but wonder what he had been talking about.

"You guys can do whatever you want, just don't leave the house," she said to Angel and Slater, then she went after Reaper. He hadn't gone far and she found him in the next room. It looked to have been the dining room at one time. Reaper was sitting on a dust-covered chair, attempting to apply one of the potions he had bought to his injury. It was difficult, seeing as how his hand was still coated in blood and the awkward location of the wound. 

"Hey, why don't you let me do that?" Lani asked from the doorway. Reaper turned to her, slightly surprised, then nodded. She walked over and took the potion bottle from him and began dabbing the liquid on the wound. It started to close up almost immediately.

"Silent as a cat," Reaper commented. "I didn't even hear you following me."

"Okay, it's time for you to spill," Lani said, ignoring his remark. "I want to know about all that stuff in the graveyard and this house and the TM you bought."

Reaper smirked. "Don't jump too far ahead in the game, dear Lani. Have you solved the first puzzle yet?"

"I think they were your parents," she answered with a slight frown. Lani did not want to play Reaper's strange game. She wanted to know what his deal was right now.

"Correct. I knew you were a smart one, dear Lani. Now, let us address your concern with the TM I bought. It was number 42. Do you know which pokemon skill that is?"

Lani closed her eyes in concentration, trying to recall the name of TM 42 from her training in Team Rocket. Finally, she remembered and said, "It's an attack called Dream Eater, but what does that have to do with anything? I didn't think you owned any pokemon."

"No, I don't. The TM was for me."

"What?!" Lani exclaimed. "You can't use a TM! Humans can't…" Her voice trailed off as she realized what Reaper was hinting at. "Are you saying that we can use pokemon attacks because we're part pokemon?"

Reaper gave her a knowing look. "For the most part, yes. However, I discovered that our human parts corrupt the attack, giving it a slightly different effect. Do you want to know why I chose Dream Eater instead of some different attack?"

"Of course I wou—Hey, what's this?" Lani interrupted herself. The gash she had been tending to was almost completely gone now, but she had discovered something else. There was a large scar on Reaper's upper arm. It looked like a bite mark, most likely from a rodent of some kind. "Did you get bitten by a Rattata or something here?" she asked, touching the scar. To her surprise, Reaper snarled at her and jerked his arm away. He stood up from the chair, nearly knocking it over.

"It's nothing," he growled. "Just a reminder of what happens to those who trust others. You would do best to forget about it." He narrowed his eyes at her dangerously.

Lani was speechless. This was the first time she had seen The Reaper lose his control.

The half-Houndoom took her silence as an affirmation. He regained his composure and said, "I've got other matters to attend to, and I would recommend that you get some sleep. Oh, and should you hear any sort of screams, don't bother to come looking for the source. I don't like to have my work interrupted." Reaper turned away from Lani, his long coat stirring up the dust on the floor, and left the room in search of Angel. He still had to punish that boy for his interference.

He found the boy shortly. To Reaper's delight, Angel had chosen to retreat to the basement of the house. With a sadistic grin, Reaper descended the stairs. Angel heard his footsteps and looked up at him. His blue eyes reflected only hatred for the other.

"What do you want?" Angel asked curtly.

"You interfered in my business," Reaper said simply. His gaze wandered around the basement. Everything, from the sound of trickling water to the cracked walls to the pipes running just under the ceiling, was just the same as when he was here last…

"What business what that?" Angel snapped. "I did just as I was told back at the gym."

"Oh, the tangled web you weave!" Reaper laughed cruelly. "You were going to let her escape, weren't you? Just let her run right by you to freedom? Well, I can't have that, especially not with _her_." He reached into his coat and withdrew a length of rope. Then he grabbed Angel by the front of his shirt and pulled him forward. Angel struggled to break free, but he was not strong enough. Soon, Angel's shirt and jacket were removed and his wrists were bound to one of the pipes along the ceiling. He glared at Reaper, but that was about all he could do.

Oh, what should I do to you?" Reaper said with a nasty smile. "It's really a shame that we're away from headquarters. I don't have all my toys. I guess I'll just have to make due with what I've got." He reached into his coat once more, this time pulling out something that resembled several ropes all tied together. One end was a solid handle and the other end was all loose rope. Each loose rope was tipped with a sharp sliver of bone.

Reaper turned it over in his hands, letting Angel see it perfectly. "It's wonderful, isn't it? I made it myself, you know. Compact enough to be carried easily, but still strong enough to make a grown man scream in pain." Reaper glanced up at Angel, but the boy would not allow him the satisfaction of any sort of reaction. Reaper continued, "It's called a cat o' nine tails, and was used mostly on ships with sailors. Of course, if we were on a ship right now, I think I'd have to keelhaul you instead, but that's not an option right now, is it?" he asked, grinning wildly. Then he circled his captive until he was standing behind him. The sadist raised the cat o' nine tails, then brought it down on Angel's back. The slivers of bone ripped skin clean off, leaving nine bloody gashes where they had hit. Angel winced, but refused to cry out.

"No more talking to Emery." The cat o' nine tails lashed down again. "No more touching her." Another lash. "Don't even look at her." Another lash and another. The tool for punishment continued to fall, rending flesh from bone, tearing deeper and deeper each time. Blood coated each of the nine barbs and splashed to the floor around Angel's feet.

Finally, Reaper halted his torture. He lowered the cat o' nine tails, admiring the work he had done on Angel. Gruesome slashes crisscrossed on the boy's back. It almost appeared that he was wearing a bleeding checked shirt. Angel dangled from the rope, his breathing shallow. Reaper walked around so that he was standing in front of the boy again.

"Do _not_ interfere again," Reaper told him in a low growl. "I went easy on you this time. Should you try anything else with Emery, I'll kill your Eevee." He punched Angel in the face, causing him to swing slightly. Then Reaper left the basement, climbing the stairs to the first floor. As he was walking into a different room, he passed Lani. With a slight smile, he said to her, "You might want to take some potions down to the basement. We can't have Angel dying just yet."

"What did you do?" she asked him, slight traces of worry entering her voice.

"Only what was necessary," he answered. He rubbed the bite scar on his arm absently. "After all, isn't that what friends are for?"

Author's End Notes: Yeah, I know everyone wants to kill me now. So, what's the deal with Reaper and this house? Where did his scar come from? It's going to be addressed in his vignette, which is getting closer and closer, I assure you. Oh, and about the cat o' nine tails: yes, it is a real torture device used by sailors back in the day. After it was used on someone, that person was usually referred to mockingly as having a "checked shirt." That's all for now. I'm going to try to get Angel's vignette out by the end of this week.


End file.
